Earth-52 IC

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

After she regains control of herself, the first thing Walker does is check the thugs to make sure she hasn't killed them. She has to, otherwise she can't call herself a cop, because cops don't kill - so she spares a second or two, just a second or two, to cast her gaze over the whole of them and then rushes to where Stephanie is, at which point she wishes that she'd just used the sword and be done with the whole of them.

The next bit is a blank, and then she's kneeling at the girl's side with both hands trembling and her cane over to the side. On brief susperstitious impluse she snatches her necklace from her neck and fixes it around Stephanie's, the silver ankh hanging there as a silent prayer to the powers that be. If they owed her one thing, one thing, now was the time to give it to her. She'd saved one of them - wasn't that enough for them?

She became aware Stephanie was speaking. Quoting something. Again. She grabs her cane and then akwardly picks the girl up, careful to avoid the shoulder wound."Quiet, girl. Save your strength. We'll get somewhere safe." She lies. Where's safe, now? She wants nothing more than to go to a hospital, hand Stephanie over to someone who knows what they are doing, who knows something about first aid, but she can't leave Ra and his employees at the mercy of the gangs. One life against, against all of those? She hated the maths. Hated it. But it was her job to think about it. But Ra, if his corparate soul knew what was good for him, would have someone alive in the building who knew how to look after an injured girl. He'd have a doctor or a medic and first aid kits and something, and she had to keep telling herself that otherwise she'd turn back and try and get to the nearest hospital.

Swearing and shivering, with a girl in her arms, Katherine moved onwards.

Spoiler

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JiC:(1d20)[2]

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

"Rhet!", Kate cried as her protege was grabbed by something fast and dark. She took a half step towards where Bette used to be before the woman in white revealed herself. Her clothes were trampy, but the .45 automatics showed she was not to be trifled with. Great, Kate thought. Another crazy. Walker will be thrilled.

"You can call me the Question. I don't know what's going on here, but I don't have time for games. Tell me 'what you call yourself,' and then get out of my way. And if you've harmed my partner in the slightest, I will be very, very angry." Kate's voice is flat when she speaks, but there's a hint of a growl at the end. She watches the stranger's eyes - those emerald eyes, so familiar - for a hint of betrayal in case she goes for her guns. She couldn't shake the feeling that this chance meeting was about to end badly.

Spoiler

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JIC: (1d20)[4]

[industrious]

Alice

"My name is Alice, so please your majesty."

She dips a curtsy.

"And in that case, I move that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies--"

In a blur of motion, Alice opens fire.

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Initiative please, and (1d20+14)[21] for the attack. DC 21 Toughness Save.

Walker

Stephanie cries and screams as Walker carries her, ruby-red droplets of blood
marking their progress.

"Please stop. I'll be good. Please stop..."

[Terron]

Montoya... Why was he even there? Why didn't he apprehend the woman that shot the assailants? Sometimes it seems his time in the mob was simpler, shoot first, ask questions later. For the time being, he had to at least know what happened to that place that marked a before and after in his life. Carefully, he peeks through the windows.

(1d20)[6]

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

From beneath her pseudoderm mask, Kate's eyes go wide. Alice. It can't be. It all clicks in her head, why this sounded so familiar - back in the alternate dimension, with the Batman, the file. Faced against the last currently known High Madame of the Religion of Crime Alice, it had read. Real name Elizabeth Kane. Current Whereabouts of High Madame unknown, presumed deceased...

Lizzy?

Kate was so caught up in possibly seeing her sister alive for the first time in almost two decades that she nearly missed the tell-tale signs of someone drawing weapons. On instinct, Kate dove to the side, the bullets from Alice's automatics shattering glass behind her.

Might not be Lizzy, she thought. The Question over there was Renee, maybe this is some other crazy with guns. Take her out, worry about the ID later. Kate prepared to leap at Alice - whoever she was - and remove her guns from the situation, and prayed that wherever Bette - Rhetoric, it's Rhetoric in the field - had been taken, that she handling whatever situation she was in.

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

"It's not safe to leave you out here, kid." Walker murmers. "It's not safe. We have to move." Why, sweet everlasting Jesus why, had she never taken a look at any kind of first aid or refused to listen when it had been taught to her? Stupid bitch.

She sends up the only prayer that matters, to the only god she never doubted exists, a plea that she stay away from the girl today. Seventy years, twenty, two, one, tomorrow even, because that would give Katherine some time to work out how to stop her coming or fight her away when she did. But not today.

Trying her best not to jostle her charge, Katherine activates the commbead. "Anyone? Anyone there?" She snaps, with seven years practice of not panicking. "I have an injured sixteen-year old in my arms. Somebody report!" She stops, and looks around for someplace to go. Let there not be silence, or if there is, let there at least be someplace safe.

Because she doesn't know what to do.

Spoiler

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JiC: (1d20)[3]

[industrious]

Alice

Alice lets out a giggle as she continues firing her twin .45s, squeezing the triggers with abandon, until the weapons click empty.


"What a curious feeling! I must be shutting up like a telescope."

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Attack Roll:(1d20+14)[29] DC 21 Toughness Save

Luigi

He peers in, and is rewarded with an all too familiar scene. A man in a crisp Italian suit, his face impossible to see at Luigi's angle, holding a gun to the inhabitants of the apartment, and flanked by two extremely large and well-muscled gentlemen. Two shots to the head for the young man kneeling on the carpet. The man in the Italian suit ejects the pistol magazine, loads a new one.

"Come on boys. Black Mask wants everyone in this apartment dead. Ground floor up."

That voice...it's far too familiar. The figure turns...and Luigi's blood runs cold. It's Gino Bottoni. One of the people he used to work with.

Walker

"Walker. This is Allen. The nearest patrol cars are seven minutes from your position. Hold on."

Katherine looks around, and spies the ruby glow of an exit sign. There are noises coming from behind it. She strains her ears, trying to listen.

"...the Detective! Let her in immediately!"

Walker staggers towards the door, Stephanie still cradled in her arms. She can hear the rhythms of locks unlatching, the notes of dials being turned and the jingle of keys being fumbled for. A symphony of hope.

But Steph's breathing has been getting softer and softer all this time, and she's been getting noticeably lighter due to blood loss. And ever so faintly, Katherine can hear her whisper Sorry...for...Spoiling...your...day.

The sound that comes out of her mouth begins as a sort of bitter laugh, turns into a sob half-way, and descends into a final gasp of pain. And then, even though Katherine can hear the door with Ra's and his medical team and all the people she and Stephanie came to save open up, can hear them rush towards her and Stephanie...the world is quiet.

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Kate keeps on the move, keeping her path unpredictable. Whoever Alice was, she was a damn good shot - despite her bobbing and weaving, Kate felt several bullets whizz past her, and one even grazed her leg. There was one advantage to fighting crazies, though. They tended to run out of bullets fast, and Kate was waiting to hear a sound, and at last, she did.

clk-clk-clk-clk

Kate leapt at Alice, a snarl beneath her mask. "Trust me," she growled. "You're not shutting up fast enough for my tastes." She sent a powerful body blow into Alice's midsection, grabbing at Alice's left wrist with her right hand. Isolate the weapon. She can't fire if she can't reload. Her time in Israel had taught her more...devastating ways to take down an unarmed attacker, but she couldn't bring herself to use them. Not now. Not against...her. Instead, she crouched and sent an uppercut into Alice's jaw, hoping to make the madwoman see stars.

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Rolls are on the OOC forum.
JIC: (1d20)[11]

[Terron]

Luigi removed his scarf, and moved to the door. If it wasn't already open, he would softly push it to a side. From inside, Gino and the muscle escorting him can't see at his face, as it's partially covered by the wide rimmed hat, that cast a black shade over his face. Lifting his face up, Luigi's feature are clear in the room's lighting. "Gino, fratello, come sei stato?"

JICR: (1d20)[9]

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Walker gives Stephanie to the nearest medic, not daring to think of what might be happing to the girl in fear of the answer she might recieve. She lets her badge and her job serve as a armour against those thoughts. "Any other hostiles, sir?" She asks, looking at the old man. As much as she hates seeing someone so broken down, right now it's much better than looking at...

Christ. She is not crying. She is not. Not while there's a job to be done. Walker closes her eyes and tries to forget that anything has happened, but it's not working. "Will she be... alright?" She asks, to nobody in particular.

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(1d20)[1]

[industrious]

Alice

Said madwoman reels back drunkenly, the semi-automatics clattering to the ground.

"I'm afraid I'm giving you a great deal of trouble. I didn't know I was to have a party at all."

She titters once more, wobbling, before a small ruby ball rolls from up her sleeve, along her fingers, and drops onto the ground, filling the area with crimson smoke.

"I'm very sorry you've been annoyed."

When the smoke clears, Alice is nowhere to be seen; the only sign of her presence the two black handguns.

Spoiler

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Collect 2 hero points. One for Bette, and one for Alice.

Luigi

"Luigi!"*

He turns his head, arms spread wide.

"I heard you got out of jail, my brother. Why didn't you come and see me? I'm hurt, Luigi, very hurt."

*Translated from the Italian.

Walker

"That's a question that nobody really knows the answer too, is it?"

No.

Not her.

Not here.

Not now.

Her face is far too kind, and she hasn't changed at all--because really, why would she ever need to--and she's here.

Katherine is sitting in a chair. She doesn't know how she ended up sitting in the chair. The one next to her is now occupied. It wasn't, half a second anymore.

"Hello, Lieutenant."

[Terron]

"It was nthing personal" Luigi shakes his head and smiles. "I needed time on my own Gino, you know how I am. Besides being almost killed changes you, I tell you. I see you are doing Black Mask's dirty job, eh?" Luigi casts a glance at the corpse nearby. "What happened Gino? We didn't use to kill innocent people before, brother."

OOC: Not sure if I need to roll anything.

(1d20)[19]

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

"Hey there, girl." Walker doesn't look at the woman, just focuses her gaze right ahead. The armour, part of it, springs right up again. "Long time no see."

She's taking this remarkably calmly, she realizes. She still wants to scream and yell and cry and rave and possibly shoot someone, but it doesn't work here. It's a distant fact. For a start, there's no-one to shoot and this is one person she doesn't want to scream or rave or even cry in front of.

Instead, she sighs. "You would've thought the universe owed me something, or at least a bloody answer." There's a bitterness in the voice which she doesn't supress. "I've saved part of it, with two others, and all I get is a bunch of insanity over the next five years. Or at least if it can't do anything for me, it could do something for her. She got a life bad enough to lach onto me as a mother-figure and now she's either dying or not in the middle of a gang war in her own bloody city. Now that's not fair."

She shakes her head. If this is all in her mind and Ra and everybody else is hearing her say this to nobody at all, then they'll probably think she has finally snapped. Maybe she has finally snapped. It might not be so bad. "I'm sorry." She says. "It's been a long couple of years. How have you been doing?"

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(1d20)[19]

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Kate coughs as the crimson smoke surrounds her. Dammit, she thought. You'd think I'd be used to this with my own gas cloud. By the time the smoke fades, Alice - whoever she was - is gone. Kate glances around, using her mystic tattoo of sight to perceive anything beyond what is apparent.

Once she's given a quick examination of the scene, she carefully approaches the guns. She picks up the automatics, their weight heavy in her hands, their barrels still warm from the firing. She places them into one of the pockets of her trenchcoat, and then stares up into the empty sky.

I'm coming, Bette. Just hang on a few seconds longer.

Kate grabbed onto a fire escape and ran up the scaffolding, surveying the rooftops for signs of where her partner might have been taken.

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JIC: (1d20)[6]

[Sophistemon]

Spoiler

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The attacks can represent either pistol fire or getting hit with a club.
(1d20+10)[29] DC 18 Toughness Save
(1d20+10)[26] DC 18 Toughness Save
(1d20)[6] DC 18 Toughness Save

[roll3] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll4] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll5] DC 18 Toughness Save

[roll6] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll7] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll8] DC 18 Toughness Save

[roll9] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll10] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll11] DC 18 Toughness Save

[roll12] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll13] DC 18 Toughness Save
[roll14] DC 18 Toughness Save: Automatic success.

Those nearby may be startled to see a man as large as Lyle Bolton moving as fast and with as much agility as he does while ducking, dodging, and weaving around the attacks of his enemies; following his visit to an alternate universe, he had made it a point to put more of a focus on his acrobatics training, largely in response to the Batman-That-Was-And-Wasn't-Batman. Because of this, Lock-Up is able to evade most of the counter-attack, but not all, as blows and bullets rain down on him from every direction following his successful debilitation of twelve of the enemy's number. He had a feeling that he might win Deadshot's bet because of it, but it wouldn't mean squat if he doesn't stay alive to collect. Okay, keep it together, he thinks as a few of their assaults make contact with his body. I need to be alive to see the look on his face! Thankfully, while five attacks make contact, only two were aimed well enough, or struck powerfully enough, to cause him actual harm.

He girds himself as best he can against the damage.

Rolls:
>Toughness Saves:
>>(1d20+10)[29]
>>(1d20+10)[26]
>Just in Case:
>>(1d20)[6]

EDIT:
Hoo-rah! Would you look at that!

[industrious]

Walker

"You know. Endless. Eternal. Omnipresent. Unchanging." she says, toying for a moment with the ruby ankh around her neck.

"She made her own choices, you know. She chose to trust you. She chose to look up to you. Make you her role model. And those choices led her here. And, well...here I am."

She rises to her feet, and begins to walk towards a closed door.

"Excuse me for a moment. I have a job to do."

About a minute later, the nurse confirms what Katherine already knows.

The Question

When Kate attempts to open up her additional senses, what seems to be an electric shock blazes through her. Rubbing where her Da'at tattoo is, she feels the marking has been literally burnt off. Curiouser and Curiouser. And while she doesn't know what has just happened, there's Bette to think of. Time is running out.

Clambering onto the rooftop, she finds a manila envelope. Unfortunately, when she opens it, the contents bring her to her knees. They flutter around her, face up, and settle on the rooftop floor.

Photographs. Three of them, printed on legal size, glossy paper.

Kane Manor. One of the publicly released images of the manor.

Kate's bedroom, taken from the entrance to the bedroom.

Her father's study, taken from one of the entrances. Her father is in the frame, too, looking straight at the camera-holder, the ruby of his engagement ring twinkling, and his hand blurring under the desk.

There's an address on the back of the final photos.

Lock-Up

((Skipping ahead a bit, since you guys are behind.))

They fight and pummel and shoot their way through the group until only one is left...and their score is tied.

Rather than gulp in fear and run away, though, the guy begins to laugh. Not crazily or nervously, either.

Luigi

In the dim lighting, Gino's face looks positively skull-like, a gleaming ruby fixed in place of one of his incisors.

"You get hit on the head or something, Luigi? We kill everybody, you know that. The relatives of people behind on their loans. Cops we can't buy off. People who pay up to the wrong person."

He gestures lazily to the two dead people on the floor with his gun.

"These people. This place is the border between Black Mask and the Family's territory, Luigi. They paid up to the wrong person for protection. Simple as that. Don't hold your nose and pretend you're better than this."

He smiles, spreads his arms, and moves forward a step, waiting for Luigi to embrace him.

"Hell," he continues. "I'm just following in my your footsteps."

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Walker doesn't speak to either the nurse or the departed woman. They both leave her alone. Katherine sits, and thinks.

Back in Pawn, not long after Jimmy's lot and way before Gordon's one, there'd been a old dog by the name of something Henderson. She'd never bothered to learn his first name, because even by the standards of Pawn he had been standoffish and bitter and angry and had radiated an aura of malice towards anyone in his sight. He'd been a good cop in Gotham, but he'd been a good cop for too long and Gotham had got inside him and wouldn't come out. Then one week he'd been pleasant, kind of, and smiled a little and seemed at peace, and then he'd not come to work again. They'd found out, half a month later, that his landlady had found him hanging from the ceiling that morning. The others had joked, some to laugh and others to hide their horror, and Katherine had remembered and tried to put it out of mind.

She'd heard that could happen, when someone depressed decided to just not live anymore. The clarity of purpose would give them a new energy, or calmness, or inner peace. They knew what was coming and had the sureness that nothing after it would matter any more.

So Katherine sat back, and did not get angry, or yell, or hide in her work, as she might have done with any other setback or dissapointment or even tragedy. She just decided to play a little game with herself, and if nobody came and spoke to her in five minutes she'd go and finally get some peace and quiet.

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Kate doesn't know when her legs gave out on her, but a growing horror has settled into her stomach. Bette's disappearance was bad enough, but now someone - possibly Alice, possibly some other psycho capitalizing on the chaos - has kidnapped the Colonel as well. Whoever it was, it was planted for The Question to find.

Worst case scenario. Someone's figured it out.

There was no time to waste. She grabbed at the photos littering the roof, ran a gloved hand through her short hair, and ran - sprinted, truthfully - towards the address. As she ran, a prayer ran through her mind. Please, God, don't let me be too late. Not this time. Not again.

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JIC: (1d20)[11]

[industrious]

((Putting Walker on the backburner, just to keep things roughly even in progression))

Kate Kane

The address leads her to an old restaurant in a part of Gotham even more decrepit and run down than most. A neon sign, only the first word luminescent with lurid color, advertises it to be "Ruby's Diner: The Best Waffles in Gotham!"

The windows have all been blocked out with trash bags, and the front entrance proclaims it to be open for business.

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Any doubt that her secret had been discovered was dashed when Katesaw where the address led her. With this revelation, she could no longer ignore the obvious: Alice was Lizzy, her twin sister. Kate had always thought she had died alongside their mother in the crossfire that erupted when their father led the assault on the kidnapper's lair. Now, however, that threw everything into question. Why the deception? Where had she been for all these years? What had happened to her to make her dress in leather and lace, carry twin .45s and spout Lewis Carroll?

Too many questions. Not enough answers.

She stared for a moment at the rundown diner, and rubbed the back of her head. The searing pain had gone, but a dull ache over her da'at tattoo was a reminder of the event. What the hell happened back there? Everything feels muted. Was it a side effect of the gas? Is it gone forever?

Focus, soldier. At least two hostages, unknown resistance. No visual on the inside. No time to investigate alternate entries. It's a trap. You'd have to be crazy to walk in there.

So she did.

Kate pulled her fedora lower on her head, opened the door to Ruby's, and casually walked in, her hands in her pockets. "You wanted my attention. Congratulations. You've got it

"Where. Are. They." It was less an interrogative and more a highly punctuated threat. Her voice is cold, and even frightened Kate a bit. She'd heard herself like that once, five years ago. She had very nearly done some bad things then. It frightened her because this time, if things went badly, she wasn't sure if she could stop.

Spoiler

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JIC: (1d20)[10]

[Terron]

In the dim lighting, Gino's face looks positively skull-like, a gleaming ruby fixed in place of one of his incisors.

"You get hit on the head or something, Luigi? We kill everybody, you know that. The relatives of people behind on their loans. Cops we can't buy off. People who pay up to the wrong person." He gestures lazily to the two dead people on the floor with his gun.

Luigi chuckles "You're right. You are right, brother." he says half laughing, "But let me tell you a story, about this place. A story you probably don't know. When the cops got me, the boss decided that I was a liability. I dedicated my life to the Mafia, but as soon as I got caught, instead of trying to free me, what did they do? Hire Grayson to make me a goner. Just in case I decided to speak. Your life, my life, it worths nothing, like these potatoe's bag." Luigi motions to the corpse.

"These people. This place is the border between Black Mask and the Family's territory, Luigi. They paid up to the wrong person for protection. Simple as that. Don't hold your nose and pretend you're better than this."

"WE are better than this Gino, you know it. We almost grew up together, I saw you grow and become a man. I thought you how to hold a damn gun. I love you too much to see you at the wrong end of a hitman's gun Gino..." was Luigi's reply.

He smiles, spreads his arms, and moves forward a step, waiting for Luigi to embrace him.

"Hell," he continues. "I'm just following in my your footsteps."

"...Then I'll rather see you behind bars." he says, and producing his crossbow, shoots a bolt of gas amidst the gangsters.


Actions:
Draw crossbow
Shoot it to catch Gino and the goons in the AoE: Stun (Fort Dc: 20, Sedation)

[industrious]

Lieutenant Walker

Walker doesn't speak to either the nurse or the departed woman. They both leave her alone. Katherine sits, and thinks.

Back in Pawn, not long after Jimmy's lot and way before Gordon's one, there'd been a old dog by the name of something Henderson. She'd never bothered to learn his first name, because even by the standards of Pawn he had been standoffish and bitter and angry and had radiated an aura of malice towards anyone in his sight. He'd been a good cop in Gotham, but he'd been a good cop for too long and Gotham had got inside him and wouldn't come out. Then one week he'd been pleasant, kind of, and smiled a little and seemed at peace, and then he'd not come to work again. They'd found out, half a month later, that his landlady had found him hanging from the ceiling that morning. The others had joked, some to laugh and others to hide their horror, and Katherine had remembered and tried to put it out of mind.

She'd heard that could happen, when someone depressed decided to just not live anymore. The clarity of purpose would give them a new energy, or calmness, or inner peace. They knew what was coming and had the sureness that nothing after it would matter any more.

So Katherine sat back, and did not get angry, or yell, or hide in her work, as she might have done with any other setback or dissapointment or even tragedy. She just decided to play a little game with herself, and if nobody came and spoke to her in five minutes she'd go and finally get some peace and quiet.

Walker

"Walker? Dammit, Walker, snap out of it!"

She's in the Comissioner's Office. How did she get in the Commissioner's office?

Gordon looks pissed, fury shining from his red eyes and only slightly diffused by his thick horn-rimmed glasses. On his desk are four hourglasses next to a silver-plated service revolver, a commendation for excellence in marksmanship.

"Did you hear anything I just told you?"

The Question

Any doubt that her secret had been discovered was dashed when Katesaw where the address led her. With this revelation, she could no longer ignore the obvious: Alice was Lizzy, her twin sister. Kate had always thought she had died alongside their mother in the crossfire that erupted when their father led the assault on the kidnapper's lair. Now, however, that threw everything into question. Why the deception? Where had she been for all these years? What had happened to her to make her dress in leather and lace, carry twin .45s and spout Lewis Carroll?

Too many questions. Not enough answers.

She stared for a moment at the rundown diner, and rubbed the back of her head. The searing pain had gone, but a dull ache over her da'at tattoo was a reminder of the event. What the hell happened back there? Everything feels muted. Was it a side effect of the gas? Is it gone forever?

Focus, soldier. At least two hostages, unknown resistance. No visual on the inside. No time to investigate alternate entries. It's a trap. You'd have to be crazy to walk in there.

So she did.

Kate pulled her fedora lower on her head, opened the door to Ruby's, and casually walked in, her hands in her pockets. "You wanted my attention. Congratulations. You've got it

"Where. Are. They." It was less an interrogative and more a highly punctuated threat. Her voice is cold, and even frightened Kate a bit. She'd heard herself like that once, five years ago. She had very nearly done some bad things then. It frightened her because this time, if things went badly, she wasn't sure if she could stop.

Spoiler

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JIC: [roll0]

It's a tea party. All the booths have been demolished, and only the bar counter and a single long table, filled to overflowing with a mounds of used tea sets and a single one still in used.

At one end is Kate's father, duct tape at his wrists and a strange-looking mask covering his face, with wires leading from it to what appears to be a car battery.

"Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a Bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat Bats, I wonder?"

Alice emerges from the swinging door leading to the kitchen. She peers at Kate intensely.

"Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a Bat?"

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Walker looks around the room very calmly. In her current dream-logic state of mind, the transition does little to bother her: it makes her angry, and confused, and a little bit hopeful, but all those emotions are distant, like the moon. She knows they're there, but it doesn't matter much to her.

There's Gordon's desk. The old man is looking angry, angry at her, and unlike when Walker gets angry people pay absolute attention when the Comissioner loses his fuse. His anger has the impact of a man who rarely looses his temper and keeps it under control even when he does: Walker has to ensure a reaction by increasing the volume and amount of fury she is pushing through. Not that that's ever been hard.

"Sorry, Gordon." She says distantly. "I didn't hear a thing. Did you know, Stephanie's died?" The question at the end of the sentance is a piece of traitorous hope. If this is a real place, and what she was thinking previously was a dream, then maybe a young girl hasn't been killed. Just maybe.

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(1d20)[15]

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Kate's jaw is firmly clenched in anger as she sees Alice again, and the crazed gleam in Alice's emerald eyes can only mean terrible things for the Colonel. Her first inclination is to strike at her, but the rational side of her talks her out of it. Too far. She'll light him up like a Christmas tree before you close the distance. New tactic.

"I've met a bat, actually. Several. In fact, in another life, I am a bat. And in another life, you weren't Alice. In another life, you were just a little girl, who loved her mother, loved her sister, and loved chocolate and waffles. I knew you before...before this happened." She gestures between the two of them - two women, standing in a abandoned diner wearing ridiculous costumes. "I thought you were dead, Lizzy. We all did. I don't know what happened to you, but I want to help you, to meet you all over again. Please...let me help you."

Inwardly, Kate prayed. There was a tiny chance all of this could end well - maybe she could talk Lizzy down, and get her the help she clearly needed. It wasn't too late...not yet.

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JIC: (1d20)[12]

[industrious]

Lieutenant Walker

Walker looks around the room very calmly. In her current dream-logic state of mind, the transition does little to bother her: it makes her angry, and confused, and a little bit hopeful, but all those emotions are distant, like the moon. She knows they're there, but it doesn't matter much to her.

There's Gordon's desk. The old man is looking angry, angry at her, and unlike when Walker gets angry people pay absolute attention when the Comissioner loses his fuse. His anger has the impact of a man who rarely looses his temper and keeps it under control even when he does: Walker has to ensure a reaction by increasing the volume and amount of fury she is pushing through. Not that that's ever been hard.

"Sorry, Gordon." She says distantly. "I didn't hear a thing. Did you know, Stephanie's died?" The question at the end of the sentance is a piece of traitorous hope. If this is a real place, and what she was thinking previously was a dream, then maybe a young girl hasn't been killed. Just maybe.

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[roll0]

"Yes. Yes I did."

Gordon takes off his glasses, fixing her with the full gaze of his stare. Every word seethes with barely contained ruby fury.

"I've been talking to the DA, IA, and the Mayor all morning. It's on every channel. Everyone knows that you killed her."

He reaches a hand across the desk, palm open.

"It's why I'm putting you on two weeks mental disability. And then, I'm taking you off the force. Give me your gun and your Badge, Lieutenant."

The Question

Kate's jaw is firmly clenched in anger as she sees Alice again, and the crazed gleam in Alice's emerald eyes can only mean terrible things for the Colonel. Her first inclination is to strike at her, but the rational side of her talks her out of it. Too far. She'll light him up like a Christmas tree before you close the distance. New tactic.

"I've met a bat, actually. Several. In fact, in another life, I am a bat. And in another life, you weren't Alice. In another life, you were just a little girl, who loved her mother, loved her sister, and loved chocolate and waffles. I knew you before...before this happened." She gestures between the two of them - two women, standing in a abandoned diner wearing ridiculous costumes. "I thought you were dead, Lizzy. We all did. I don't know what happened to you, but I want to help you, to meet you all over again. Please...let me help you."

Inwardly, Kate prayed. There was a tiny chance all of this could end well - maybe she could talk Lizzy down, and get her the help she clearly needed. It wasn't too late...not yet.

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JIC: [roll0]

Alice tilts her head.


"I'm sure I'm not Ada, for her hair goes in such long ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm sure I can't be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh! she knows such a very little! Besides, she's she, and I'm I, and--oh dear, how puzzling it all is!"

She claps her hands together and sits down, pouring herself a cup of tea from a teapot painted with patterns of rubies, slurping it down happily. From the kitchen to the back, Kate can hear a scream.

"Twinkle twinkle little Bat! How I wonder what you're at!"

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Kate's heart sank as she heard Alice's response. Her madness...too deep. Too complete. What now?

A familiar voice cried out in pain from the back of the cafe. Kate flinched in horror. "What have you done to Rhetoric, you monster? What do you want from me?" Her voice quavered with desperation as she raced towards the back. She had to know what Alice had done...she just didn't trust herself to hold back when she saw the outcome...

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JIC: (1d20)[18]

[Sophistemon]

Lock-Up

When the one remaining thug begins to laugh, Bolton's blood begins to boil. "You think this is funny?" he shouts, stepping over the groaning body of one of his former assailants. "This isn't a joke - those tires were new!" It was, perhaps, an irrational response. But he was, as Lock-Up, used to brawling his way through unfavorable odds. He was used to being shot at, clubbed, gassed, and even occasionally set on fire. What he wasn't used to was paying over three thousand dollars under the table for specialized tires, only to have them all wrecked a scant few days later. That sort of thing would irritate anyone. He starts another characteristic charge, aiming his considerable bulk towards the Leftover Thug, and attempts to jab him in the stomach with the rounded tip of the nightstick. Let's see him laugh with no air in his lungs, he thinks, his inner voice sour.

Actions

Spoiler

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Free Action: talking trash.
Move Action: charging towards the thug.
Standard Action: making an attack (with the nightstick); (1d20+10)[26], DC25, CT17-20.

Just-in-Case roll: (1d20)[7]

[DeafnotDumb]

Lieutenant Walker

Without even thinking about it, Walker brings out her gun and places it on the desk, moving like an automation. She brings out her badge and then stops.

A badge means something. It was a symbol - there's a reason that it's in the shape of a sheild. Many a cop had used the idea of the badge to protect themselves from what they saw on the job, from what they did on the job, from what Gotham threw at them on the job. It was a reminder to protect others, to uphold at least some of the idealistic impossibility that being a cop meant, to punish and redeem the guilty and to protect the innocent - and if you couldn't do at least some of that, then it was just a piece of shiny junk that couldn't stop a bullet if it tried.

Giving up the badge was giving up. Walker knew this.

She places it on the table next to the gun and stands, no longer a cop for the first time in years of her life. It's the strangest feeling she's ever had.

"What now, Gordon?" She quietly asks.

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JiC: (1d20)[17]

[industrious]

((After a reaction post from everyone...the climax.))

((Condensing your arc to this post, since you're behind. Sorry.))
Lyle Bolton

He doubles over in pain, but he's still trying to laugh through empty lungs. Gasping for air, he nearly chokes in his mirth and agony.

"Don't...you...know...who we are?"

Another shuddering, rasping breath. He smiles, pain and delirium in his eyes.

"Just the decoys, man. Just the mother****ing decoys."

A terrible sound comes from the docks. A sound of screaming metal and high explosives. Lock-Up can see the fireball.

"Just the mother****ing decoys."

Everyone Lock-Up cares about is-was-on that boat. Lucius, and his wife (for safety)...and Her. Shondra.

"Hey! Lock-Up!"

It's Him. The Black Mask. He's standing atop a cargo container, a struggling figure in one hand and a wicked knife in the other. Even from this distance, he can see the man's ruby red eyes and twisted black skull.

"Catch."

The knife flies across the figure's throat, and the body lands at Lock-Up's feet. It's Shondra. Minus a finger.

"This is a nice ring, Lock-Up. Nice ruby."

He's holding it.

"I think I'll keep it as a souvenir."

That man.

"Anyway, as I was saying to one of my subordinates earlier..."

The Black Mask.

"How do I take care of Lock-Up?"

Who had just destroyed everything in Lock-Up's life.

"Here's the answer; it's really quite simple."

He would pay.

"He pulls out a club, I pull out a knife."

The Black Mask throws away the knife, leaps maybe twenty feet away from the taller vigilante.

"He sends one of mine to the Slammer, I send all of his to the morgue."

He twirls a baseball bat in his other hand.

"That's the Gotham Way."

Lieutenant Katherine Walker

"Whatever you want, Lieu-Katie. Whatever you want."

Nobody at MCU will meet her eyes. They stare at her all the same. She can't go in there.

She doesn't remember sitting in her apartment, but she is. She's staring at her safe right now. Her backup piece is in it.

You're a failure at everything you do. You never get hurt, but everyone around you withers and dies. You try and you try, but nothing good every comes of it. So stop trying. Do the only thing left to you now.

Give up. It's not like anyone will care...

Katherine Kane

The kitchen is bare of anything that would make it a kitchen. Aside from three identical rack-like devices mounted on the far wall, it's bare of everything else, too.

Bette is strapped to the left device, crying out in pain as electricity courses through her.

"Oh...dear," she murmurs under her breath. "I...shall...be...too...late"

In a zippered pouch on the front of the rack is what appears to be set of rabbit ears, as well as a waistcoat, top hat, and a full-on White Rabbit costume.

The right-most rack is labelled "Daddy" where Bette's torso would be; it's Hatter's attire planned for him, apparently.

And in the center...Kate's own rack, the crown of the Queen of Hearts at its top.

"As in it's past time for us to go home."

Alice is in back of her, talking.

"We've got each other, Kate. We'll still be together. We'll always be together..."

You can still save Bette. You can still save the Colonel. But you can't save her. You can do it. You can take her. But you can't do it if you hold back. You've had the training. You've refused to do it. But you'll have to, this time. If you can't do it for your family, what sort of person are you?

And besides. She's not your sister any more.

[Bruendor_Cavescout]

The Question

Time seemed to stand still for Kate as she surveyed the madness of the scene before her. Her father and niece strapped to racks and tortured. Alice - no, Lizzy, her sister - was their torturer.

And worse...the voice was back.

Back? I'd never left. Just laying low while The Question got some time to play. But face it, Kate. You need me. Now more than ever.

I know what you want me to do...kill her. End my sister's life.

Not at all, Kate. Your sister died along with your mother. This woman, here, she might look like Lizzy, even sound like her, but you know as well as I do that she's not Lizzy. You've got to stop her, or she'll kill the Colonel, and kill Bette, and keep on killing. She won't stop once she's finished killing everyone you've ever loved - she'll take it out on innocents. This is a surgery, removing the cancerous growth before it can kill the host. Do it. End Alice. Save your family.

But at what cost? If I do this, what's to stop me from doing this again? Doing this - killing her - what gives me that right?

Foolish girl. This is Gotham - things aren't cut and dry, black and white. There's no room for idealism, just the cold, hard facts. You have to stop her, now, because soon, she won't be able to stop herself. You are a soldier in an unorthodox war. She will just be one casualty of that war.

No. I was a soldier. Not anymore. These days...I'm something more than that.

Kate activated her earrings, letting the Pseudoderm fall from her face. She confronted her sister, for the first time, face to face. Her eyes are watery, but her face is set in a grimace.

"You're right, Lizzy. There's no going home again. But you need to see what you've become. What you've done. Everyone you've hurt." Kate's hands lashed out like twin cobras, grabbing her by the neck with her left, and pressing the right hand onto the side of her face. The golden glow of her Hesed tattoo began to shine, forcing Lizzy to feel the pain she had caused, not just the Colonel, Bette and her, but everyone she'd ever harmed. There was a reason she rarely used this tattoo - what it did to some people was horrific. Still, it was the only solution available to Kate...

Not quite the only one...but you know where to fall back on if this doesn't work...

Spoiler

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JIC: (1d20)[4]