Earth-52 IC

[industrious]

Robin

"Tt."

As Luigi leans forward, he finds himself staring at the point of a sword, a few scant centimeters away from his left eye.

<You are even more of an imbecile than I had thought previously> the boy sneers in perfect Italian. <I can only assume that whatever crime family belonged to before you changed careers threw you out due to your sheer incompetence at whatever you touched. If the other rejects from your dimension are at your level, I find myself wondering if you haven't managed to completely destroy the city in your attempt to protect it.>

Spoiler

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Warehouse

((Waiting on you guys to respond))

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

"How'd I not..."

Walker has taken on the look of a open-mouthed fish. It's not certain what is going through her mind, but her expression looks like she's been hit by the mental equivalent of a half-brick in a sock.

She is staring, extremely hard, at the two Questions, but mostly at the one who is Renee Montoya. She shuts her eyes and grips her forehead with her hand, and mutters something as she shoves past Lock-Up towards a more secluded spot of the room. Then, suddenly, she stops.

"Question." She says, and her voice sounds very odd, like she's trying to strangle it before it gets out. "Our Question. When you've finished, we need to talk about something. Privately." She glares at everybody, and tries to think up a good lie. "It concerns policework, and Rs's A- Ra- Ra-" She stutters over the name. "-The guy who sent us on this trip." She finishes lamely.

[ChronicLunacy]

Deadshot

Deadshot was a bit of a jerk, (Well, okay, he was a big jerkass.) but he wasn't an idiot. Fortunately for the Questions, he couldn't tell exactly what was going on, but he could figure out that the Montoya Question was lying about her mask. "Looks fine to me, babe." he commented, his eyebrow raise visible through his obscuring mask. He retrieved his grappler cable from where he'd swung down from the catwalk and looked over at the kids in their cages.

"Should we be letting them out?" he asked.

[industrious]

Renee

"...Yeah. Of course. Right."

The Faceless takes out a set of lockpicks, and begins working on the nearest cage.

[Sophistemon]

Lock-Up

The vigilante stows his nightstick in the loop on his belt before fishing around in a pouch and removing his own set of lockpicks, which he tosses to Deadshot. "Help her," he says, before he himself begins the task of restraining the surviving werewolves. It wouldn't do at all for them to be up and about while the children were out of the relative safety of their cages. He wonders what will happen to them when the Gotham Knights return to their home dimension. Does this dimension's Gotham have a Slammer in which to keep them, or some other meta-human prison of similar sophistication? He hopes so.

Actions:

Spoiler

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• Hand a set of lockpicks to Deadshot.
• Restraining unconscious (not dead) werewolves.
• JiC: (1d20)[19]

[Terron]

Luigi smiled back. "Insults. Very impressive and predictable for a young boy. But you know nothing about me, and your tiny skull couldn't even comprehend the reasons I had to stop a very profitable career as professional hitman for the mafia, and face all this kind of abuses from the kinds of you, or better said, from the kinds that you'll become. Enough is said that I don't care who your father was, but if he didn't show you any manners, then he wasn't Italian. And you are not either, so stop staining my language.-"

OOC: I'll try this one more time. If it doesn't work I'll remove this useless power from Luigi's character sheet. Instilling fear in Robin. Will DC: 17, insidious effect, so he doesn't know Luigi is actually using the power.

[industrious]

Firewall

"Yeah...well...Shut Up!"

And the kid is gone in a cloud of smoke.

"Hello? Robin?"

Batgirl peeks her head into the main room.

"Freaky Italian Man! Have you seen a short obnoxious pain in the rear anywhere?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Deadshot

Deadshot caught the lockpicks, but just shrugged and put them in his pocket. Instead of using them, he decided on using a more precise instrument. His wrist guns spoke softly several more times and the padlocks on the cages that the other Question wasn't working on fell off, victim to one perfect shot each. He walked over to the nearest cage and swung it open with a creak. "Don't worry, kids. No one's going to hurt you anymore." he said uncharacteristically softly, trying not to scare them any more than they probably already were. (In hindsight, his shooting may or may not have endeared them to him, but it had looked really cool.)

[Terron]

Firewall

"Yeah...well...Shut Up!"

And the kid is gone in a cloud of smoke.

"Hello? Robin?"

Batgirl peeks her head into the main room.

"Freaky Italian Man! Have you seen a short obnoxious pain in the rear anywhere?"

Luigi stands, hands on his hip. " 'Freaky Italian Man' " he repeats. "How is that you know I'm italian? Anyhow, I have a name. And I have seen you obnoxious pain in the ass I think. Is he pointing swords at people's eyes and speaking threats in Italian as well? He mentioned something about his father, and me trying to replace him. Perhaps you know something of that?" he asks. "Your computer has been most useful, by the way. Thanks."

[industrious]

Batgirl

She rolls her eyes.

"Because you have an accent. Duh. And of course you have a name. But seeing as we're 'superheroes,' asking for that would just be plain rude."

She pauses for a moment.

"Did you really just complain about a ten year old boy being his normal grumpy self at you? Because that is just wrong on so many levels. So. Many. Levels."

And then her own version of the Bat-Glare is pointed at Luigi's way.

[Terron]

"I was refearing to my Alias not my actual name." Luigi replies with a risen eyebrow.
He waves his hands in denial as the girl gives him the look. "Don't change the subject, I'm asking about the father issue. Besides you were complaining too, so cut that look, is unnerving." Perhaps it was his former occupation, but that look was eerie at best for the former mafioso.

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Kate pants for a moment as the final werewolf is dispatched. She grimaced as one of her tattoos glowed beneath her clothes - having a mystical power to heal bodily harm was great, but it was damned uncomfortable sometimes. With the werewolves defeated, she turned her attention to the man Renee called "Grevane." Unlike the others, she had an angle on the man that his smoke grenade did not obscure, and noticed him running out a back door.

Her fists clenched in anger. Career criminals, in her experience, were either a desperate or depraved bunch, but to kidnap children was a special kind of crook. The kind that needs to be taught a lesson. One she'd be happy to deliver.

She noticed that Renee and Deadshot were rescuing the children, and that the immediate danger was over. "Of course, Question. There's just something I need to do first." She raced towards the door to follow after Grevane. You're not slipping away that easy.

Spoiler

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JIC: [roll0]

[industrious]

Warehouse

Unfortunately, there is no sign of Grevane after the man ran out the back door. The alley it opens into is empty, and the streets on either side have only a few people walking them, none of which looks like the tall, thin man.

The locks spring open after much trial and error, and the kids rush out, happy to be freed from their cages.

Renee presses the side of her neck, just below her jaw.

"This is the Question. Hostiles eliminated. Hostages rescued. Send the team in."

She turns to the rest of the group, addressing them directly.

"The police will be here soon, and I'm going to have to leave before them. Question, I'll need you with me. Everyone else, stay out of sight; Batman will pick you up shortly."

Firewall

The look stays. Stephanie, for all her usual cheerfulness, could glare with the best of them if she had to. In many ways, the switch from her usual self made it even more unnerving.

"I'm changing the subject because I need to actually talk to the creep, and because frankly, it's none of your business what he was talking about. Where'd he go?"

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

"Damn," Kate cursed under her breath. Her fists had still not unclenched as she surveyed the scene. She searched the ground to see if she could find footprints, she examined the walls to see if he had climbed up them, and checked the dumpsters to see if he was hiding amongst the rest of the garbage. It took several long moments before she could even acknowledge the truth: the bastard had gotten away.

Reluctantly, she returned to the warehouse. Inside, she could hear the cries of the frightened children as they were released from their cells. It was a far better sound than their terrified silence. Still, she wondered how bad the damage would be later in their lives - how would they deal with the scars of this terrible night? Would they turn to crime? Would they drink to forget? Or would they follow her path, becoming something to take back the night?

As Renee asked Kate to come with her, Kate nodded silently in agreement. She was sure Renee could read her expression through her mask - now it was very pensive and reflective. Wordlessly, she followed Renee into the night.

Spoiler

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JIC: (1d20)[8]

[Terron]

"Seems that here everyone is on the mood. When you learn manners I'll think about it." he says simply. Not that he actually knew where the boy was, he just banished in a puff of smoke. But something that Luigi didn't tolerate was the lack of manners. Even if he had the occasional outburst.

[industrious]

Batgirl

"...Excuse Me?"

The glare turns up another notch.

"Alpha Green-C14"

Instantly, Luigi finds the various wall panels have enveloped him inside a crowded, 3 x 3 x 7 ft cube. There is no light, and no way to see into Firewall proper.

"Now," Stephanie growls from somewhere on the outside. Sound, apparently, can penetrate the walls. "Let's talk about manners, hm? This is my base of operations. This is my dimension of reality. And you are a guest, sitting on my chair, and using my computer. And you have the nerve to actually dismiss me? To mouth me off? Listen up. I am going to ask you again. And if you don't tell me the answer, I'm going to have to start treating you with as much respect that you have.

((I'll update the Warehouse when others post an update to that area.))

[Terron]

"Alright, alright, no need to get violent... I was just kidding. The kid threw a smoke grenade at my feet and disappear when the smoke cleared!" Luigi says, shrinking on the spot.

[Sophistemon]

Lock-Up

With the children freed from their cages and both Questions having left, Bolton hesitates before heeding the native Question's instructions. Instead of immediately vacating the premises, he moves to corral the children into a tighter group. With that done, he kneels down and slumps his shoulders so as to appear nonthreatening, or at the very least less threatening. "You've all been very brave," he tells them, and his voice is so uncharacteristically soft, so human, that the other members of the Gotham Knights might do a double-take in response to hearing it. "The police are on their way. I need you to be brave for just a little while longer, okay? Just wait here until the police arrive to take care of you. My friends and I have to leave, but we'll be watching over you, so don't be afraid." With that done, he stands and turns to address his companions. "Ready to move."

JiC: (1d20)[8]

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Katherine watches the Question go off to hunt the villain, and sees the others going to help the children, and burns at her own selfishness? Was she a cop or not? Time to stop thinking about yourself, girl, just for the while until the job's done.

People were comforting the victims, and Question was already running off after the perp, so the only thing left to do was look at the crime scene. Walker went to were Gervane had dissapeared and hunkered down on her good leg to see how he'd done it - this would be as good a place to start as any. Then she could look around the rest of the room to see if they'd left any clues as to what they were doing here, and more importantly where they'd gone.

Spoiler

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Investigate Roll: (1d20+20)[25]
JIC: (1d20)[13]

[industrious]

((Will post a warehouse/Firewall update tomorrow at the latest.))

Kate Kane

They walk north a block before they get to a nondescript, powder blue sedan that had seen better days. Renee finishes out a key, unlocks the vehicle, opens the passenger door for Kate.

The ride back is a special sort of silence. Two people who think they now each other, but are too terrified to make a move. Two familiar forms filling the same space but afraid to touch. At one point, Renee reaches for the radio. Her fingers brush against the dial. A minute later, the radio remains silent.

The two eventually arrive at an extended stay hotel, the sort that businessmen used during long assignments. Renee opens the door to her room with a swipe of her card key. It's decorated impersonally; Kate knows that the room next door looks exactly the same as this. The furniture is oh-so slightly worn, and the fan above a kitchen nook revolves slowly and silently.

There is only one unique item in the room: a photograph. It's the two of them, dressed in the most fashionable outfits of far too long ago, and sitting at the table of a restaurant. The first time Renee let Kate pick the venue of a date, finally accepting that her girlfriend made more doing nothing than she did working 60 hour weeks. Top of the City, it had been called, and the view was gorgeous, the dinner delicious. Renee had smelled like peach shampoo and menthol cigarettes. Kate had asked the waiter to take the photo; Renee had asked to have it. The years have faded the colors on the paper, and the restaurant closed its doors after the earthquake that had led to No Man's Land.

Blue leathered gloves touch the photograph; it's Renee, index and middle finger stroking the cheekbones of Kate's image. Her mask is off, and Kate doesn't know when she had taken it off. She doesn't know when she had removed hers, either. The two blank, indistinguishable slates of pseudoderm lie next to each other by the door.

"We..." her voice cracks as she breaks the silence. "We aren't together here. In this universe."

The words slip out like the tears that refuse to run down her face.

"We were. For a brief time. And then you nearly died, and when you look death in the eye, your death...you changed. And I wanted to help and protect you, and then there were words and fighting, and temptation and...

They fall now, leaving thin damp trails over her face.

"We aren't together here. You-the other you-made that much clear to me. You're dating the head of MCU now. Tabloid stuff. Very public. You seem happy enough. I don't know. I guess. And I..."

She lets out a small, quiet sob that fills the silence.

"You aren't my Kate, and I'm...I'm not your Renee. We've had different experiences; our lives branched off at some point long ago. But...can that not matter, tonight? Can...can you just be kissing me now?"

[ChronicLunacy]

Deadshot

"Hey, kids! Who likes ventriloquism? Eh? Eh? Oh, Deadshot what big guns you have. The better to shoot you with, dogbreath. Bang! Bang! Haha! Hey, don't cry...I guess you don't want to see where I was going to pull a bunny from next, huh? No? Man, tough crowd."

Deadshot put the werewolf corpse back down. Children were so hard to please these days. He pointed a hand toward the ceiling and shot another line into the rafters, from which he could find a place to stay out of the way while the police did their thing. Maybe he could stake out a place on the roof while Batm...was it the scary monster guy or Bat Jr. that was picking them up? He hoped it wasn't Bat Sr.

That guy had issues. Lots of issues.

[industrious]

((Sorry about the delay. Stuff happened.))

Warehouse

Walker can easily find the remnants of a smoke grenade near Grevane's position; the distraction was all he really needed to get away.

The sound of sirens begins to get gradually louder, and from their former position on the landing, they can see one of the Batmen. He waves all of you up.

Firewall

"...You're right behind me, aren't you?"

"Took you long enough, Fatgirl. Your concern is oh-so touching."

"Batman cares. You should too, squirt."

A pause in the conversation. Luigi still can't see what's going on.

"Anyway, I'm taking the Spoiler for a driving lesson. Don't mess up my base, and stuff. They should be back soon."

Footsteps.

"Well now," sneers the ten year old. "What shall I do with you?"

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

The silence between Kate and Renee during the car ride was deafening. It wasn't until they made it to the hotel room that Renee found the words. Her heart leapt into her throat as she recognized the photo - she remembered that night well. She listened to this universe's Renee reminisce, and she felt tears welling in her own eyes. She approached Renee, and pulled her close, holding her tight. She leaned in, so their foreheads touched again.

"We might not be exactly the people we knew, but I hear her voice when you speak, you sway your hips the same way she did when you walk, and your lips tremble just like hers when she was trying her damnedest not to cry. I've missed her so much...and it sounds like you've missed me."

And then, finally, they kissed.

Somehow, across universes, two broken souls had found each other again, and it was though no time had passed for the both of them. Kate gasped as she removed Renee's shirt, and saw a few nasty looking scars on Renee's sides and back. "Those are new...were those from fighting those Religion of Crime guys?" Both of their bodies were carrying scars from their crusade against the night, wounds earned in a never-ending battle they both knew could never be won, but none of that mattered in that room. Kate smirked as a wicked thought went through her head. I'll tell you how I got mine, if you tell me how you got yours.

They found solace in each other's arms, satisfying something that both had been missing. They couldn't fill up the empty places in their hearts, they knew this night could never last - but in that room, in that moment, they pretended like it didn't matter.

They ended up spooning on the bed, and Kate could feel Renee's breath on her pale neck. Kate interlocked her hand with Renee's, and they laid together in a far different silence than the one present when they had entered the room. Eventually, Kate broke the contented quiet, with a simple question. "So, Renee...how did this happen? To you, I mean. How did you become this world's Question?" She had more questions to ask, but this was the most important to her in the moment.

Spoiler

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JIC: (1d20)[1]

[Terron]

"Free me of course. I'm sick of being falsely accused to stuff and treated like a vulgar thief just because I have a sense of humour." Replies Luigi in Italian.

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Walker pauses at the sound of sirens, and then suddenly starts and grabs the remains of the smoke bomb as she remembers that in this universe, the police wouldn't be accepting of her being at a crime scene unsupervised. She runs up towards the crazy bat-guy.

[Sophistemon]

Lock-Up

After consoling the children, Lock-Up heads towards the Batman - not the Batman, but a Batman. When he reaches the man, he nods in greeting. "The kids are safe. They'll probably need therapy to cope with what's happened, but they're safe."

(1d20)[8]

[industrious]

Damian

"Except you are. You're a lowlife piece of Mafia trash, and really? You should be treated as such."

Luigi hears the clatter of keyboard keys, and the walls slowly begin to close in.

"I read your file, you know. A sad, pathetic report about a worm with a firearm. You're dead here, did you know that? Shot in the back. A slow and messy death."

Batman

"We have arrangements with the police. They'll be taken care of."

The door is battered down, and the boys in blue begin to pour in.

"We need to go now. We interact with them, and they won't be able to use anything as evidence."

The car is parked in another alley, and they ride back in silence. Grayson doesn't join them.

"There's more work for me to do. We're trying to find a way back for all of you."

He drives off, and those with particularly acute hearing can hear the man listening to Brittany Spears once he's alone.

Firewall

They emerge in Firewall to find both Stephanie's missing, the Compact no longer parked, and a boy no more than twelve years old, dressed in high-impact Kevlar and leather armor painted like a signal light, arms crossed across his chest, staring directly at him. The sight is more than a little unnerving.

"So," he growls. "A crippled policegirl, three criminal buffoons, the most bratty, irritating girl to ever defile this planet by her presence, and a d***. If you are all Gotham's Finest, then there isn't any hope at all for your world."

Was it wrong to have a sudden, nearly uncontrollable urge to beat five kinds of crap into a kid?

[ChronicLunacy]

Deadshot

Deadshot didn't do anything to muffle his laughter as he heard THE BATMAN listening to Brittany Spears. Any lingering respect he had for Bat Jr. went flying out the window. Maybe it was mercy, but he didn't let anyone else on the joke if asked. As they went inside he was still chuckling and reaching under his mask to wipe the tears from his eyes. That was when the weird kid dressed like a road flare started insulting them for no reason.

"Aw...he's so cute I could just riddle him with bullets." Deadshot crooned mockingly.

JIC: (1d20)[6]

[Terron]

"And why you think my life here is by far similar to my life in my world? You are making assumptions, of course. You might as well believe in Santa Clause and God still." Luigi retorts. "And yes, I assumed I was dead in this world. I couldn't find myself in that computer. I'm still puzzled about what you said about 'replacing your father' though. I'm glad that Batgirl did the job for you and catch me. I thought I had spook you so much you wouldn't even dare approach me again. But, who wouldn't try to hurt a defenceless man in a cell right? A mobster perhaps. " the former gangster antagonizes the child.

[DeafnotDumb]

Lietenant Walker

Walker stares at Damien for a long while before bursting out laughing, suddenly releasing all the stress of the last day in one long, inconsistent guffaw. She manages to rein it in for a moment before taking another peek at the kid and starting again.

"Green...Yellow...Red.... e-even Deadshot looks better than that." She manages, and straightens up from her amusment and catches the boy's glare. "Oh, God, and you were trying to be intimidating. Wearing that. That's just too good to be true." She smirks an insult at the boy, too amused to really get angry at him. "You're almost cute."