| Reaching Out to the Bat |
| Summary: | Three heroines go looking to make contact with the Batman, to establish communication for future emergencies. |
| Date: | 2014-04-25 |
| Related: | Kaiju Attack on Manhattan |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
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"We can wait a little while longer." Moon Maiden says. "I don't want to broadcast again, though. It isn't fair to the police that we broke into their channel." She's invited Power Woman and Marvel Girl to join her on the roof of the movie theater while she waits for Batman to show up. Assuming he does. With the power of the three women combined there's little chance of danger - not even in a city as rough and tumble as Gotham. "I think it is important we establish contact. If only between the four of us."
"OK. But I still think this is a little crazy." Not a lot crazy, of course. There is a certain logic and sense to it all. But Karen cannot help but find it insane that they are here in Gotham, standing on the roof of a movie theater, having sent a radio signal across the police band announcing their intention - in a rather round-about way - and addressing it to the Batman, all in the hope he'll choose to grace them with his presence. "I mean, this guy has gone out of his way to be practically invisible. No one can confirm his existence, until three days ago when he decided to fly into New York." And she's still not sure why the Spirit of Gotham would do that.
Jean smiles faintly, "Crazy… we're three women standing on a rooftop in costumes. I think that's covered." She glances over at the other two, "Well, I would think that the thing we faced earlier would show that a spirit of the night needs help on occasion."
Amidst the hundreds of minds and heartbeats in this part of town, one begins to descend from a taller structure to the east. There's a slight flap of fabric and wind as he approaches, and despite his training, there's a soft thud of his boots on the roof.
Right in the shadows, as might have been anticipated.
The eyes; Jean has seen them before, sitting white in the deep shadows. They seem to peer.
"Good evening."
Without super hearing or telepathy, Moon Maiden is certainly the most likely to be startled. She leaps into the air, hovering about a foot off the ground, gasping as she spins around. "Oh." Slowly, she sinks back down to the ground. "Hello." Rich voice but no signs of demonic possession. Of course, one never knows about these things.
Still, why does a demon need a jet?
"We wanted to meet, formally, since we've worked together. I'm Moon Maiden. Laurel. This is Power Woman and Marvel Girl. Hello."
At the ripple of fabric in wind, nearby, Kara turns to look into the night, watching the approach. She instinctively reaches out a hand to steady Laurel when she jumps, startled. She lets Laurel speak first, though, since this was her plan. Then she speaks up, after. "Given the symbol, we're guessing you go by Batman." She's also assuming he's by far not the first to use the name. But what does she know? Maybe he's some kind of immortal. Jor-El's journals said there are some who do exist. "We were hoping to establish a means of contact. A protocol, if you will. For the future." And to find out if he would be at all amenable to that.
Jean doesn't jump, but then again, she /is/ psychic. Of course, she's also met the Batman before, albeit briefly. She then tilts her head, considering, then she nods, simply saying, "He is." She then amends to Kara's proposal, "Well, keeping in contact for when larger threats arise. Like giant radioactive lizards with a taste for nuclear reactors."
The Dark Knight remains in the shadows and doesn't respond for a few uncomfortable seconds. For those with super hearing, his breath is slow and measured. Calm. Considering.
"That can be arranged."
"We came across something that couldn't be beaten by any one of us alone." Moon Maiden, calmer now, continues. "And even if one of us could have dealt with the monster, that person couldn't have done that AND saved the people on the bridge and on the docks. It took all of us working together. There are going to be more threats like that. I think we need to be ready for it."
A protocol like that requires prior arrangement and communication. So here they are. "We should probably arrange it both ways. You might be the one to find something you need other talents to deal with, after all." Power Woman offers. It could happen. It's worth bringing up, right?
Jean hrms softly, "Well, what exactly are we looking at doing here? Are we thinking of just a loose network of responding to threats, or something a bit more than that?" She glances at the others, "We are greater than the sum of our parts, after all. Particularly if we focus our efforts to work as a team."
Clink.
Clink. Clink.
Upon the ground, out from the shadows, drop 3 silver tubes. They roll around on the rooftop covering out towards each of the three women.
"Communicators. Two way. Imagined that might be why you asked to meet."
Batman steps out just a bit from the shadows and the outline of his harrowing suit catches the light. His suit is grey with black trim and extremely long ears jut out from the mask with the opaque eyes.
Moon Maiden's lunarkinetic powers reach out and lift the tubes. One hovering at a good height for each woman to grab one. "You work fast. I'm going to guess they're encrypted." She knows Power Woman will be checking that. "Marvel Girl has a point. Communication is good but in the old days, when the world was threatened, it took a team. Well, teams. The All-Star Squadron. The Justice Society. The Invaders. Should we follow in their footsteps?"
Power Woman reaches out, gathering up the tube hovering in front of her, and starts examining it with eyes capable of matching X-Ray machines, MRIs and electron microscopes. Then she glances up to look at the man in the shadows of the night. She doesn't ask about starting teams. She knows that might be too much, too fast. Communication is a way to begin. It's a start, and a good one. "I also wanted to say thank you. The intel you provided, and the help, meant a lot that night. We didn't get a chance to say that then." They were a little - or a lot - damned busy.
Jean telekinetically snatches the last communicator, drawing it to her hand rather easily, "Thank you." She glances over at Moon Maiden, "Well, it could help, though I realize that trust doesn't come that easily." The last words seem directed a bit more towards Batman than anyone else, though she doesn't have any malice in her voice when she says it. Just stating a simple fact.
As the topic of teamwork comes up, Batman falls silent. Those who can see in the dark may be able to feel the conflict in him by the pursed lips and the consideration. Finally he responds. "You don't need to thank me," his hallow, low, and whispery voice states. As to the parameters, those can all be decided in time. Communication is key."
"I agree." Moon Maiden slides the silver tube into her belt. She's got a small set of storage pouches for just this sort of thing. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Batman. I'm sure we'll work together again in the future." Because, at some point, the need will be there.
Kara didn't say she needed to thank him, but that she wanted to. And that's different, in her book. "I've always found that a little please and thank you can go a long, long way in helping smooth out the lines of communication. Especially when they are offered genuinely." That's her way of saying she meant it. "Appreciate the open line of communication." Hail to the future, that.
Jean nods, "And if you do need some additional help…" She tucks the communicator away, leaving the rest unsaid as she glances at the other two women.
"Duly noted," Batman says vaguely and moves slightly back into the shadows, keeping his thoughts on the matter slightly closer to the vest. He's been over this a hundred times before, but the most recent time has seen the change in his mindset. Some situations were just too big to take on alone.
"I'm sure you have things to do. Gotham City is a large place. It needs a protector." Moon Maiden says. "So, unless you want our help with one of your projects…" She leaves that open. Perhaps Gotham needs more than one protector tonight. Or perhaps tonight she'll be fighting crime somewhere else.
Power Woman lifts off just a bit, boots hovering off the rooftop. "Good luck out there. If you ever need a hand … or if you just want to hear someone else's voice, give a holler." Welcome, not being overstayed. God it?
Jean nods, "Well, it's not like I don't live here also, but you already knew that Batman." She grins a bit, then glances over at the other two, "If you wanted to stick around… well, I wouldn't mind."
Batman's eyes almost seem to tighten as he peers at them one more time. "I'll be in touch." From there he steps back into the shadows and the white orbs disappear. A second later there's a 'pff' of his jumpline gun, followed by the sound of the metal cord flinging him away.
"That went better than I'd hoped it would." Moon Maiden says, quite cheerfully. "He seems like a nice enough guy." Optimism, thy name is Laurel. "So, this lets us stay in touch. That's good. We might want to do something a little less dramatic, too. I don't want to bother him everytime, say, I'd like to practice against someone else who uses kinetic abilities." She smiles at Jean.
"Less dramatic can be good. Like going to visit the Lincoln Memorial together, and walk the Mall." Power Woman offers, smiling at Laurel and Jean as she hovers there in mid-air. It's a reference, of course, to time spent with Laurel when they were getting to know one another. The first time they ever met up in civilian guise, in fact. "Glad he didn't get mad at us for showing up."
Jean nods, "Sounds like an idea to me." She hmms, "Well, he seems like a reasonable enough fellow… relatively speaking. I didn't pry, of course. But his will seems quite exceptional in any case."
"We don't need to be best friends to work together." Laurel points out. "Though being friends isn't something I'm going to turn away from if it comes to that. In the meantime… the team idea isn't a bad one. Perhaps we're not ready for it yet but if we have to work together often enough."
"Well, being friends sure helps sometimes. But you're right." Power Woman glances at the others curiously. "I suppose we'll see what the future holds. But we don't have a President, facing a world war, commanding us to work together. It'll take other circumstances, this time."
Jean chuckles, "And hopefully not radioactive lizards trashing major metropolitan areas." She shrugs, "But we'll see how it goes, I suppose. And since I'm finally home, I should head back to see how far behind I am." With that, she jumps off the roof, floating gently down to the ground.
"Bye, Marvel Girl." Power Woman offers, watching the other woman disappear. Then she extends a hand towards Moon Maiden. "Shall we head out of here?"
-==[ West End and Chinatown — Gotham ]==------—-
The West Side is one of the larger residential areas of Gotham combined with many of the gothic skyscrapers intermingled to the east in the Diamond District. Most of the residents here are in the upper middle class to lower middle class economic brackets. Street people live all around and police patrol this area heavily. Crime isn't really an issue as much as domestic violence. The streets here are lined with cars and many times the air is filled with noises of car alarms. Just to the east, Robinson Park can be seen along with the reservoir of that area. To the west, one can see the Gotham River and Gotham commons beyond.
Rumor has it that Chinatown has turned into a pure tourist trap, and in places, that's true; some of the bustling streets offer nothing but high-priced stores or kitsch, and Canal Street, the area's northern border, houses perhaps the biggest of the area's outdoor markets. Even those streets, however, are still recovering from a two-year depression that stripped most of the tourists away. The rest of the area - where the tourists *don't* flock - is largely residential, and its businesses reflect its makeup. Traditional herbal-medicine suppliers, acupuncturists, and low-priced noodle shops and teahouses cater primarily to the locals. Signs and conversation are frequently not English; overheard music is rarely Western; and one of the major local shrines is the Wall of Democracy, covered with newspapers and posters describing the situation in China.
Obvious Exits:
- [00] - Subway South — Gotham
- [01] - Deacon Street Apt Bldg — West
- [02] - Club 78 — West End
- [03] - Double R Diner — West End
- [04] - Back Alley — West End
- [05] - West Entertainment Complex —
- [06] - Goldstein's Jewelry Store —
- [07] - ALVI Grocers — West End
- [08] - Nick and Daves — West End
- [09] - Ming Wong Imports — Chinatown
- [10] - One Port Trinity Place — West
- [N] - Upper West End — Gotham
- [NE] - Diamond District — Gotham
- [S] - Tricorner Island — Gotham
- [SE] - Old Gotham — Gotham
- [W] - Brown Bridge — Gotham