11939/Bat Family Values

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Bat Family Values
Date of Scene: 06 August 2020
Location: Batcave - Wayne Manor
Synopsis: A briefing on the Ninja/Mob wars turns into a medical emergency when a moldy Superman crashes the meeting
Cast of Characters: Batman, Nightwing, Oracle, Superman




Batman has posed:
    The hum of the generator far below is a heavier thrum of power than normal. Barely noticeable to those not used to the cave, but to those with that keen sense gained from experience, it's almost like the pulse at the heart of the Batcave was racing. Not loud enough to drown out the distant cascade of the long waterfalls far in the back. Nor the occasional cries of the bats that call the dark demesne home. Yet a subtle undercurrent that lies beneath all that passes within.
    Not unnoticed by the tall man standing before the array of monitors. Nor ignored. For the data displays whisper a series of numbers and feeds in green text over the dark background, flowing freely with the cornucopia of information provided as he brushes fingertips over the keys.
    The Bat stands there, all save cowl. The ears and mask hang over the back of the cape revealing the stern features of the man as he perceives the data as well as a feed that displays a skeletal cut-away of the Batmobile that appears to be charging upon the round-table platform.
    A key is pressed.
    The man frowns.

Nightwing has posed:
    Walking out of the changing rooms, Dick has his mask off yet. He multitasks as he quietly walks up towards the computer area. His fingertips run over a couple of compartments. He pauses only to pluck a couple of extra Regurge gas marble from the staging area. THose go into the compartment he prefers for those. With a sent gesture, he clicks a gas cartridge into his grapnel launcher before stowing it. The spent cartridge gets clicked into an empty refill slot with a couple of careful clicks.

    "You wanted us to check in?" It isn't said to rush the man, instead it is an acknowledgment. Blue eyes flick to what has Batman's attention as he does his double check on his gauntlets to make sure they are closed. It would not do to drop the contents whilst swinging. The next part is also pure business. "I fabricated a couple of extra batarangs. I might need the extra weight tonight. As soon as I get the chance they will go in your reloads."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara's curiosity is always piqued when he's pulling enough processing power to make the generator hum. It appears that she's planning to be out on the streets tonight -- she's dressed in the deep gray armor, the bat insignia black and simply outlined in yellow, carrying her gloves, cowl, and cape as she makes her way into the main room behind Dick. Her belt is already loaded and it's the screens that have her attention, her green eyes flicking across them to take in what Bruce is running.

"Something in particular you've got churning tonight?"

Batman has posed:
    "Yes." It's all that is said there at first...
    And then there's silence for the space of several heartbeats. Long enough for the first hint of awkwardness to be there before he tilts his head to the side and focuses on Dick after answering that question. Blue eyes meet like and his jaw tightens slightly.
    Then his gaze slips past the younger vigilante to catch Barbara whom he greets with a nod.
    "Updates. Tell me what you are working on. Its priority level, and if you can fit this in." He leans to the side and pushes a button to reveal a bank of the miniature data drives they use for their information shared. Two small drives are withdrawn and set on the desktop of the batcomputer, one for each of them.
    "The conflict between the crime families. The ninja clans. It's gone quiet. I want to know if it's a real cessation or preparation." He looks between them, then turns with his cape whispering with the movement.
    Strong arms fold over his broad chest as he tells them, "This takes precedence unless you have an emergency."

Nightwing has posed:
    "Absolutely re-arming and retraining. I am seeing renewed drug traffic.--" Dick leans over, and without blocking the main display pulls up a view of Bludhaven. "--in these areas. All linked to the Gotham syndicates and families. This is a recapitalization; they blew through a good amount of cash and weakened their position significantly in Bludhaven, but that has always been a secondary or tertiary area. They are recruiting and profit-taking. Some increased warfare with some of the up and comer gangs."

    Dick slides the view he brought up out of the way. "Most of what I have been working in Gotham has been linked to families, or a group called the 88th Street boys who are challenging more established groups in the 'Haven. Between them and the vampires along with some other weirdness I have not been following up on the ninja clans. I'll switch focus."

    His next question is quiet. "Is this Court of Owls related? I've had a couple of errant encounters with the Court."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara is quiet while Dick gives his report on the situation. Though she does offer, "Might be a good time for me to touch base with June and see how she's doing." The young woman, who Barbara keeps an eye on regularly, may have some ties there that could be helpful.

"For the most part, I've been working the back end of someone sifting through GCPD cold case files and following up on the DEA agent that's been missing." Barbara hesitates. "I wound up in a face to face with Punisher," she tells Batman. "He has the agent and is planning to release him in a few days." A faint grimace crosses her features. "I've had zero luck tracking down exactly where he's being held or who exactly Castle is trying to get to." So.... not an emergency, but certainly something on the radar.

Batman has posed:
    Shaking his head, Bruce sweeps a hand across the display to clear one of the realized holographic images and switch to a slightly larger view of the multi-city area. He lifts his chin, "The incursion of the Ashi clan, the schism they caused. Don't believe it's connected to the Court of Owls. Though it's does not beggar belief to imagine their taking part in the future."
    Bruce gives a nod to Dick, accepting the reasons and information he's given. But then his attention slips to the side to Barbara.
    "Would you consider June a stable asset at this point or is she still in the wind in this regard?" His brow furrows for a moment and then he turns back to the Batcomputer's keyboard interface and clicks a few times to bring up the erstwhile ninja' data. He scrolls through some of it, too fast to really be reading and more perhaps reminding himself.
    Yet when Barbara mentions the actions of Frank Castle he frowns and looks back at her. "You encounter him again contact me immediately and do not engage unless you have backup."
    The tall man's brow furrows, then he looks toward Dick and asks, "Are there any assets in Bludhaven you trust far enough to support you in combat if needs be?"

Nightwing has posed:
    "No." Dick replies bluntly. "But I am about to cultivate them. Buffy Summers; she and her Scoobies have been under surveillance for a bit. I am sure accommodations can be met, especially if we give them access to Vampire data via Oracle's computer system." Dick takes half a step back. "Castle has been creeping into Gotham for a bit. I had to stop him from killing Harley Quinn inside Gotham." He is still not happy with how that turned out.

    He opens his mouth, wanting to mention this crazy old man who keeps nosing around the apartment building, but shakes his head and closes his mouth. Extraneous and unrelated to the matter at hand.

    Dick moves over towards a chair to sit on it backwards.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara considers the question that Bruce put to her. "Uncertain at this time," she admits. "I'll need to feel the situation out before I can give you a good answer." But at the order about Castle, the redhead stifles a snort. "Count on it," she tells Bruce. "I didn't realize *who* I was meeting until I got there. And I'm not as fast as Dick -- that situation with Harley was enlightening." Hence why she didn't engage at the time either. That plus she's been spending more time as Oracle lately despite several days a week on the streets.

"Honestly, the vampire situation there still boggles my mind. Plus... are there good vampires and bad ones?" she asks Dick. But the two of them have already discussed helping out the Slayer and her little cadre. "I believe, after meeting them, it's worth Dick cultivating those assets, though, regardless. They're not necessarily out to deal with the kind of stuff we do, but they have a vested interest in keeping the streets safe."

Batman has posed:
    "If we confront Castle at some point we can give him no options. It has to be in a situation and a setting we control." Bruce looks steadily at Dick as his eyes distance for a moment, then he nods. "Put him on the leader-board." Of threats to the city, perhaps a position of honor if Castle ever learned of it. But means he'll be treated as a possible severe enough issue to have prominence beside the Court of Owls and the crime family civil war.
    Then his attention shifts back to Barbara, "Keep me posted about June, then." He pushes away from the large computer desk, stepping out of the halo of light provided by the many monitors and their holographic displays.
    The mask is pulled up over his head and the eyelets flicker to life as he pulls the visor portion down into place, securing it. One moment it was Bruce, the next it's the Batman as he frowns and looks between them. "I'll take the Northern quadrant tonight. There may be a period where I'll be off comms. I'll check in before that happens."
    The tall grim man looks from one to the other, expression stern as his cape curves around his shoulders lending him that spectre in the shadows look even as he starts to stalk across the metal supports and gratings beneath their feet, moving toward the Batmobile as he tells them over his shoulder. "Good hunting."

Nightwing has posed:
    "There are other things going on." Dick chimes in quietly. "It will keep." He says it simply and quietly. He leans over and with a keystrokes, Frank Castle's name slides up top. "I told you he was a murderer, Barbara. It's that simple." His blue eyes slide over to the copper-haired vigilante. "But you know something I don't." Fact, not accusation. "I'll be working the 'Haven and Gotham border areas. I'll work to eliminate the Owls from our equation." He slides the mask up to obscure his features, his fingers tracing the patterns to activate the mask. He works a fingertip over a glove. "You got a view through my visor?" He asks them both. He settles his gaze right on Barbara's face to check his fidelity. His left hand snakes out to grab the storage device and integrate it to the left glove. There are a couple of clicks as the suit is tightened up and readied. "I'm on the bike tonight. I have the car in a garage in surveillance mode." His right hand adjusts his eskrima sticks before he moves over to help Barbara with her cape.

Oracle has posed:
Dragging a hand through her hair, Barbara eyes Batman's back. "I'll make contact with June as soon as possible." She ponders for a long moment, considering where her attention is best spent tonight. "No," she replies to Dick with a sigh, "I just ... figure if he's going to let the guy go, maybe the agent himself is better off if we just don't pick this fight until he's out of the line of fire."

Barbara reaches for her gloves and can't help a faint smile at the gentlemanly behavior with the cape. Alfred's influence. Unnecessary, but sweet. "Okay... I'll take the streets in the West quadrant unless Robin spells me. If he hits the streets, I can tag-team out and come back to keep working here."

Superman has posed:
Alarms in the Batcave begin to react and explode to alert those inside. Incoming 'issue'. There's a good ten seconds, though, before anything actually shows up. Why so long?

'Faster than a speeding bullet' usually means extremely fast. /Really/ fast. World-circling fast. But that isn't what is happening today. This is a tiny percentage of that speed, for reasons that may be very apparent upon arrival.

Flight style and signature that the sensors can pick up determine absolutely Kryptonian: one particular one, in fact. He enters, and just /slams/ into the floor. A superhero landing that just dissolves into being face-first on the ground near the vehicles, though he managed not to make a dent in anything.

It's Kal-El. Kind of. His appearance visually is weird for a few reasons. He looks a little bit like he just rolled out of a hospital and wandered into the street in a delerium. Fortunately, he did get pants on, but the hospital 'dress' on upper body is a charming light peach color with little tulips, and does zero to cover his massive physique.

"This... I... need to be contained," comments Kal-El from the floor, face-down, sort of moving his arm a little bit, weakly. Said hand has a frothing, eerie white mass attached to the palm, with strange spidery tendrils sunk into the veins of the arm on that side. There's some blood. The whole of Clark seems to be giving off a slight fog or mist, as if he'd been up very high to collect ice crystals before coming down to do this odd crash-landed, crumpled 'visit'.

Batman has posed:
    First it was the mass and trajectory sensors trilling to life and casting an abrupt angry red upon the monitors. Alarms going off that are heard extremely rarely in the depths of the batcave and only during the most grim scenarios when the team drilled and practiced for the worst occurrences. Invasion, intrusion, attack. All going off at once on the many screens of the batcompuer filling those first ten seconds of chaos with their loud wails.
    It's enough to get Batman's head to snap back to the side, eyes wide behind the eyelets of that cowl. Crashing into the supporting structure and area near the vehicles and their launchers, Superman's arrival triggers even more alarms even as Batman is rushing and already in motion. He plants a hand on the railing leaping over it as he runs toward the fallen Kryptonian. Even before the voice is heard the Dark Knight calls over his shoulder.
    "Computer seal the cave!"
    There is the heavy rush of great weights shifting, the hiss of hydraulics, the whine of servos as mechanisms that are routinely maintained but rarely used snap into action.
    Sliding across the metal deck of the Batmobile, Batman stops as his gaze falls heavily on the white mass of ichor and nastiness upon the Man of Tommorrow's arm. He turns his head and shouts, "Computer! Engage Quarantine Protocol! Batgirl get clear. Nightwing I need transport to the lower levels!"

Nightwing has posed:
    It is a rare occurrence. Dick gets out of the way so Barbara can work the computers as he knows his place. Instead, Dick steps aside and readies the countermeasures that he knows about and has access to. He is preparing for the worst and is about to start activating the back up data storage in case they lose the cave; Tim can pick up the pieces. Nightwing's finger hovers just a moment, waiting for the word from Barbara before making the call. It being Kal-El convinces Nightwing that activating those contingencies might not be necessary.

    As Superman crashes, Nightwing starts to move, but is further away than Batman. He quite literally slides to a stop and pivots before sprinting for the gurney. "Batgirl! Calibrate it for what we have on Kryptonian physiology?" he calls out as he moves. He shoots her the slightest of small looks that she is absolutely to stay back. The gurney rattles on the floor as Nightwing grabs the pneumatic lift and pulls. His pace running back is slowed down; there is a reason why two firemen usually operate these things. Still, he is moving quick. No effort is made to put on a rebreather; if it is airborne and killing Superman Nightwing is likely already a dead man.

Oracle has posed:
The alarms galvanize all of them to action, and Barbara's at the screens in two steps to ascertain what's incoming. Ten seconds isn't much time (except to someone with superspeed, when it's an eternity), but it's enough to register the incoming as Kryptonian. Swiftly, she calls, "Hold!" when Dick goes to hit the countermeasures, knowing he'll wait for the call if he can. When Kal 'lands' -- and that's putting it very politely -- Barbara has a moment between registering the hospital gown and the .... what the blistering hell is that on his hand??? .... where she is momentarily speechless.

She pivots on her heels, remaining at the consoles, and touches the screens to pull the medlab in the lower levels to full power. Technological upgrades allow her to have the medical files uploaded immediately, and from here she also has access to Kal's Fortress. Thank God for speed reading and eidetic memories -- the search is already underway for 'white tendril creature that can penetrate Kryptonian skin'!

And while she's doing that, she also sends out a warning to Tim so that he knows the Cave is quarantined for now and to the League that Superman has been compromised, go to yellow alert and hold for info.

Superman has posed:
Superman is not doing much. He's just laying there, as if all of whatever he just did took a lot of effort. That there's some blood on his /other/ arm is particularly strange, as if he'd had a hospital IV in. That would mean his weakness level might be at an all time low, if somebody was able to actually make that happen with a needle. Some of the ice on him is lightly melting.

Other interesting clues include a mobile phone in Superman's left back pocket, easily spotted by any of the Bat detective team, and a little hospital bracelet on his uninjured side. Nobody is near Superman at the moment, so he doesn't give any more verbal information. He's just taking a little rest, it looks like, from the journey. Or he's not conscious; hard to tell from a distance.

Batman has posed:
    Having knelt beside Superman, the Dark Knight frowns severely as he looks to the other hero, to the mass of alien growth or whatever foreign substance it might be. He shakes his head, then turns his focus sharply as the gurney comes rolling up.
    "Get clear, Dick. Monitor from here. If I need help activate the drone." Right now it's all about time, and with that transport there, and the emergency cargo lift near the bat vehicles activated, he has a clear path down to the secure medical facility for use in such a contagious situation.
    "Computer, scan and isolate contaminant. Run bio-scans on Nightwing and Batgirl every five seconds." The gurney is clicked into its lower position and then Batman kneels and /hefts/. And almost /shoves/ Kal-El onto the gurney then keys the hydraulics to raise him back into position with a low hiss of pressure exhaling.
    Calling over to the team he yells, "I'm going in with him. Lock everything down and sterilize." The gurney starts to rumble down the raised flooring to the flashing red lights of that crash elevator which will take them down at high speed to the secure facility...
    There's a squeal of wheels, then a moment where Batman looks down at Kal-El. Frowns. Then says quietly. "You're a mess."
    The elevator starts to drop.

Nightwing has posed:
    "It should be me." Dick counters. He's the expendable of the two, but he knows that answer even as he protests. He doesn't interfere, but Gotham needs it's Batman. For just a half a second he stares as the other two start to descend. Softly he says something unfit to be heard and then turns towards the chemical shower. He didn't come into contact with anything, still.

    "Batgirl, bring up our quarantine procedures?" He calls it as he runs. He's not a genius on the level of the other two, nor does he have an eidetic memory. He does know his limitations though, and seeks to overcome them. He cannot remember a time that this has happened.

Oracle has posed:
The information pops up far faster than anyone may have expected. "Shit. Remember those fungus things a couple years ago??" Barbara calls to Dick. "Its one of those." She's got the comms on so Bruce can hear her too. "I need to backtrace where he's been -- if there was a pod of offspring or something, we could be in deep kimchee here. Fungal alien leeches with mind control that could suck heat and energy. Known weaknesses: Cold and sonics."

The decon shower is gonna be ice cold and unpleasant. She tosses the rest of the quarantine checklist on the panel next to the decon shower.

Superman has posed:
All of the jostling wakes Kal-El up a little, but he's clearly starting to lose out to some sort of weakness. The odd white form starts to creep up his arm more, as if it were getting comfortable anchoring it's evil roots up into his flesh now.

"We're underground," Says Kal-El as if observing the world from a place well beyond his actual vision, or awareness. "It needs to be planted," continues the Kryptonian, in a weirdly deadpan way that suggests he may or may not be entirely present at the moment: much like a sleepwalker might observe that the sand is made of skittles and the truck delivering the anchors is not on time. It makes sense but you... have to be there.

Batman has posed:
    The rough gravelly voice of the Dark Knight is heard across the comms and in that elevator as he repeats. "Cold and sonics." He steps around the gurney and begins to check as he can what he can learn from Clark's fallen form. Pulse gauged, temperature, that wound in his arm.
    "It's not that the thing is strong, it's that his power is weaker." And then, with no hesitation he flicks a batarang from his belt and snaps it open, then runs the sharp edge along the curve of his arm.
    The elevator stops with a /shumpf!/ and then the doors open to he secure treatment room. He pushes Clark into the room with a rush of movement. "Key up his life signs, monitor closely. I'm going into the observation room. Lower the temperature and begin a cycle of high and low frequency audio analytics. Hit it and increase the intensity. We need to pressure the thing but be mindful of his state."
    The door to the observation room hisses open as Batman steps through.

Nightwing has posed:
    Unpleasant is an understatement. Nightwing is sure that she adjusted the temperature down. Sure, to save his life and prevent fungal infection. Still, that puts a frost on him that Dick wasn't really ready for. He doesn't howl or the like. Instead he strips and watches the clock on the shower as he washes with the harsh chemical agents. His teeth chatter involuntarily but he makes that stop.

    "This is a stupid question. Does he have a doctor? Anyone listed as a contact?" He's sure Barbara has things figured out, but they are trained to communicate in case the other one misses something. "When you do the trace, can we see where he was? He was sublimating something. Maybe water vapor. Maybe spores. How cold was it where he was?" He this is so cold. The mask comes off as the timer ticks down. "Is there any information on what it responds to? Like will it luminesce under light wavelengths?"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara calibrates the machines down in their medlab, bringing up Kal's biosigns on the main screen in the Cave. "His heart rate will show whether the sonics are hurting him," she tells Batman. "I can't drop the temperature enough until you're clear." She sounds just a little grim. "He may have tried to take it to space, or he could have been being kept in an iso ward with liquid nitrogen being used." And *that* is cold. "I'm worried that he was obviously being kept *somewhere* right after the exposure, ... so did he just escape them all and come here because he's delirious and trusts you that much? Or is there another reason he's on the move in this condition -- like running from something?"

Roping in the computers she has access to, Barbara starts searching out all the social media reports, news reports, random satellite feeds, looking for where Kal was before he came here. Picking up his trail at the park where he came in contact with it and tracing him forward by all means at her disposal. "J'onn or someone should have already had him contained," she tells Dick as the timer finally dings to let him out of the decon shower.

Superman has posed:
Examination of Kal-El gives a range of data. He was much colder when he arrived - when he was flying and more coherent - and he has since warmed up more. The fungal, white growth has started to pulse and try to climb up his arm further, subtly, as it feasts on his energy and power. Yum yum, Kryptonian lunch. And he, around that same time, had began to say some weird comments. All connected.

The Batarang draws blood when scraped, able to cut, though Kal-El isn't very responsive to it - he's a bit out of it. "I'll just... right here," says the hero, trying to roll over, but not getting far: as if the intent were to roll off the gourney and do something else.

However, once the sound frequencies begin, Kal-El growls in a hiss of pain, twisting a little, sitting up partially and orienting on his painful arm, and the white creature attached froths oddly, responding to the shifting sonics. His heart rate rockets, but not into a dangerous zone - yet. More a response to a lot of pain: and then trying to sort out where he is, looking around quickly.

Batman has posed:
    The audio-enhanced sound of Batman's voice is heard, louder in that isolation chamber but also heard by Dick and Babs on the comms as the man says, "Superman. Can you hear me? This is Batman. You have been infected with an alien organism. We are going to begin treatment. You have to be strong, Superman. Endure."
    That last word lingers as he then kills the microphone into the isolation chamber and instead speaks to the others, "Computer any evidence of contaminents beyond the known infection in Superman's arm? Scan now."
    Then as it begins that work he tells Nightwing and Batgirl, "Work the temperature more than the sonics for now. Let's establish baselines and try to get him to a place where he is aware and semi-functional. Nightwing."
    Batman turns and faces the monitor. "I need you to put out a call. We need ways to augment sonic projection and cold temperatures. Contact the League, or any others who fit that profile in our database. If needs be prep the cave for outside visitors. Also we will need to ready a conveyance in case we must move Superman from here quickly."

Nightwing has posed:
    That's brisk. Now way around it. Halting teeth chattering, Nightwing manages to respond. "Acknowledged." He only Only pauses to grab a towel and chatters on his way over to one of the other terminals and activates his 'Little Black Book' files, searching for metahumans he has met or knows of with suitable abilities. "Let's keep the fact that he's down as much on the D-L as we can? If it got out, who knows what might show up?" He starts to read through the files he ahs, softly chattering as he reads.

Oracle has posed:
"Damn it," Barbara murmurs under her breath. "Batman, his baselines have fallen off the charts for Kryptonian norms. He is .... damn near high human baseline. Maybe a bit above. I can bring the room down to Arctic levels, but he can't *stay* that cold for long without possibly killing him." Or frostbite maybe taking the arm. That's terrifying.

Absently while she continues to scroll through data, Barbara takes her cape with its liner and tosses it around Dick's shoulders to keep his body heat closer to him.

Superman has posed:
Superman is coming aware; there's less disorientation, and he's able to stop tensing up and lay back, with a brief understanding nod. His teeth are clenched, but otherwise he's doing as instructed. And finally able to say something.

"The cold keeps it in check, so that I can think," he responds, bringing up his healthy hand to press against his forehead and eyes. "I'm sorry about all of this." And bringing it there.

The cold levels are causing some shivering now, but willpower is strong: now that he can partially think and respond. But he's clearly exhausted. "I've got some video. Of it." With that, though, Superman lets his head drop back. Time to just... endure, try to ignore the cold, and let his body rest a tiny bit.

Batman has posed:
    "We have a lot of work to do, people. Nightwing secure the assets we need. Batgirl let's try a maintainable temperature combined with a suite of sonics." The microphone triggers again and Clark will hear the rough gravelly voice, "Hang in there, Superman. We're going to try everything we can. Any insight you can give us would be helpful."
    The microphone clicks back off.
    And perhaps up at the Batcomputer Babs might notice Bruce's remote access keying through to multiple files as he pulls data not from the prior incidents as well as various personnel files. The data is then linked to the terminal in the isolation booth...
    And then, perhaps to the relief of some, the Batcomputer's automated voice comes on the comms and announces. << No sign of contaminants beyond isolated case. >>
    And for a moment, Bruce frowns, looks down. Then nods to himself as he allows himself a brief moment of a hint of optimism before he murmurs on the comms, "Maintain the lower level lock down. We don't know for sure. Alright let's get to work."