13032/A Dark Knight Interrogation

A Dark Knight Interrogation
Date of Scene:	14 April 2021
Location:	East Park Side (Crime Alley), Old Gotham
Synopsis:	Batman interrogates a Footsoldier with Sparrowhawk and Batgirl. Plans are made to flush them out.
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Sparrowhawk, Shredder, Oracle

---

Batman has posed:
The captured Foot Soldier would find himself waking up, chained to a concrete wall in the dark, save a single humming light bulb on the ceiling. He's dressed in just a pair of underwear that he would have had on beneath his jumpsuit. The Dark Knight is standing over him, staring with an even look as he lets out a low growl in his throat.

"Wake up."

There is a spark of powder beneath his nose, crushed smelling salts, enough to wake the senses up.

"We need to have a talk."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Off to the side, Sparrowhawk is paying rapt attention, sitting on a chair, leaning over the back of it with her arms cradling her head. She is pointedly not looking at the naked foot soldier. She had taken the more delicate duties, and was far, far more focused on keeping him alive and awake for interrogation.

    She has a neutral face about her, her fully rebooted domino blocking out her eyes and her hood pulled far over her head to hide herself in shadow. She is concentraiting her ambient healing in the room, adding to the Foot Soldier's recovery. She's monitoring his physical well-being.

Shredder has posed:
    The man is very young, perhaps 19 years old, latino in decent, not Japanese, clearly. His hair is short, except the very top which is slicked back into a short ponytail, like Sokka. A small soul patch and mustache are on his lips. He's strong, clearly in very good shape, and a Footprint is tattoo'd on his right pec. His left arm has a Japanese dragon, and as he is shocked awake by the smelling salts, he does a remarkable job of not completely freaking out due to being nearly nake, or to being tied up. He doesn't look at Batman to start. He instead immediately starts scanning the room, blinking rapidly to take in his surroundings. He takes a deep breath, as if smelling the air. For one so young, he clearly has his wits about him. After assessing the room, he glances first at Phoebe, and then finally to Batman, right before him.

Batman has posed:
As he watches him, Batman steps forward slowly through the dark, his eyes glowing before he leans forward to stare down at him. "Manual Ortega. Once apart of the Purple Dragons in New York City. Single mother. Worked her fingers to the bone to take care of you. Disappeared over a year agao and now you show up here in my city working for The Foot."

As he lowers himself down, he narrows his eyes behind his mask, his mouth set in a growl. "Why is The Shredder in my city? Gotham is not a dumping ground for your messses."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Phoebe remains off to the side, helpfully quiet. She is busy concentraiting her powers. Her sole goal was to keep Manuel awake and get him released with 'barely a scratch'. If he cooperated.

Shredder has posed:
    Manuel's gaze moves between focusing on one of the Bat's eyes, and then the other, as if trying to get a read. He takes several seconds before answering. "Gotham is a dumping ground for everyone's messes, hombre. Thought you of all people would know that."

Batman has posed:
"Gotham is no one's dumping ground." Batman growls as he stares into the man's eyes, his shadow falling over Manual and enveloping him. "I have enough bullshit to deal with here and I'm not going to add ninjas named after bodyparts on my list. What is he up to here? What's his angle?"

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Phoebe remains to the side, her head tilting a moment as she listens to the two. She's no expert in lie detection. Her senses aren't as fine tuned to her powers like that, but she is monitoring the young man on her domino mask's HUD, very carefully.

Shredder has posed:
    "You know who you're trying to get me to betray, right amigo?" he asks. "You think I'm stupid or something?" he responds. "We are in like, every major city in the world, not like we just showed up in Gotham yesterday, we just didn't mess with you because you didn't mess with us, so why don't we just go back to that, eh? You take care of your regulars, and we do our thing, easy peasy."

Batman has posed:
"I think you're pretty stupid, yeah. You joined a gang called the Purple Dragons, then left them to join a gang called The Foot. You clearly don't have good taste in who you partner up with." Batman says with a rumble in his throat. "You guys are chopping bodies up and dumping them in fertilizer. That's why this is my business. All of Gotham is *my* business. What needs to happen is that you pick up your pajamas and you get the fuck out of my city." The or else lingers in the air silently. "You don't want to go to war with me."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Batman does have a point. Both The Purple Dragons and The Foot are horrible names.

    Then again, Gotham gangs don't have good names either.

    She watches quietly. HEr fingers knot in thought as she looks over their interactions.

Shredder has posed:
    Manuel has a certain loathing gaze that returns upon Batman's appraisal of him. "You don't know me, man, don't pretend you and your pretty little girlfriend there," he says with a nod to Phoebe, "know what it's like for people like me. But hey, that all you want me to do? Tell my people, hey, Batman says we should leave?" Manuel smiles. "Happy to do that. Can I go now?" he asks.

Batman has posed:
"So, then tell me all about you. Your criminal record doesn't paint a pretty story for you." Batman says as he stares at the young man straight in the eyes. "Because from what I see, you're just a young kid who grew up in the wrong neighborhood without a dad and your mom wasn't around because she worked two jobs to put food on your table. Just so that instead of working hard in school, you joined up with a gang and ran away and left her behind. I know that Shredder takes young kids off the street, promises them power and respect, just like any gang, but he uses them as disposable soldiers. He doesn't care about you. This isn't a family. It's a cult. He's like any other jackass that manipulates people for their own gain. You want out? I can give you back to your mother, give you back your real family. Maybe you can help take care of her." His voice gives a low rumble in his throat. "A son should never abandon his mother."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Phoebe's face remains neutral in the conversation. At the appropriate time, she clamps down on her ambient healing powers, and draws it back. Any happy warm feelings in the room withdraw, and it gets darker and colder.

Shredder has posed:
    "Yeah, now you're good cop. Man, you think I believe you? Look at you. I may not know who you are, but you got crazy cars, you got fancy armor, you got hot girls that will get all dressed in tight clothes with you-"he says to Phoebe aside "-looks good, by the way," he gives a wink, just as he's hit with the coldness. He shivers. "Ooh, that's..." he tenses his muscles a little. "Anyway. You got money, you don't know what it's like bein' me. You come and live in all this because you choose to. People like me, this is where we were born, amigo, this is just what we are, because we have to be. Ain't no way out of your own skin but muerte. La familia es la que se queda contigo."

Batman has posed:
"Estas lleno de mierda y lo sabes." The Batman growls back to him in Spanish. "People like you are where they are at because they /give up/ too quickly. You take the easy way out. You think crime will get you instant respect, get you money, get you reputation. Instead it just puts you six feet deep, broken and desperate. Turn the fucking TV off and open a book. The amount of one's bank account doesn't measure one's worth. It's what you do with your life. I chose this life because I am /tired/ of watching innocent people get hurt and killed. But let's get one thing fucking straight." He says as his voice growls. "You were not born in Gotham and you aren't welcomed here. You can fuck your life up in someone else's city."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Phoebe remains quiet. She feels vaguely dirty by the commentary regarding her armor, and she tugs her hood down a little more as she gives a disapproving frown. This was rapidly going nowhere, in her mind, but Batman had bid her stay.

Shredder has posed:
    Manuel, realizing that Bats won't move by any sob stories, looks over at Phoebe. "He like everybody else," he says to her. "Just always so sure you know the story, simple answers." He looks back at Batman, "So just do your roughing up, kick me out of your city," he says. "I'm not worth your time, right? I'll pass your message one, we'll see if the Family listens." Implied, they won't.

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl emerges from the shadows as only the Bat Family can. She'd listened for a while, but given the posturing Manuel kept up? Well maybe another Bat suddenly appearing will unsettle and chip through his bravado.

She looks at him with unsympathetic eyes, watching and waiting, looking over his every detail like she expected his remaining time in this world to be short indeed.

Batman has posed:
"You're definitely not worth my time." Batman says as he steps forward and reaches to his utility belt. He draws out a small canister and sprays him in the face with a green mist. It will knock him out, as well as make him forget the last forty-eight hours. A chemical compound he was able to create after fooling around with some of Scarecrow's and the Joker's formulas in trying to create an anti-dote for them. At least this one doesn't put a smile on his face. He'll just have a headache.

As he turns his attention back towards them, he looks agitated. "Sparrow, Batgirl, The Foot being in Gotham is not good for us. This Shredder tried to take over the city once but received pushback from the city's kingpins. Obviously someone like The Penguin or The Joker isn't going to bend over for a guy like this. We need to speak with our Robins and let them know what is to come. These people are trained by an old forgotten code of ninjas from feudal Japan. They're deadly, silent and have deep roots. Batgirl, I need information. Anything you can get that we may have missed in the past. We need more eyes in the city to flush them out of their holes. I'll be handing this one over to Gordon."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Phoebe gives a frown, and she reaches up to brush her fingers over her domino to shut down the vitals monitoring.

    "I'll let Red Robin know. We'll take up extended patrols around the Mulching Site." she states in a soft voice. "I have contacts still with the homeless community, see if any of the regular hidey-holes have been filled with Foot."

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl watches. If she expected a different outcome, it doesn't reflect in her expression as it doesn't change. Only her gaze, turning to Batman to listen. She nods. "I remember." Last time. She doesn't forget after all. Anything. She makes notes of the information that is shared about their origins. "I can have my surveillance network doubled in thirty-six hours. Oracle will know what to look for and will keep you updated." She nods to the criminal being turned over to Commissioner Gordon though she runs over the motivations in her mind. If they're not welcome in Gotham, obviously, why turn one over to the city justice system. Batman always has reasons.

Batman has posed:
"We need to look at old abandoned warehouses, underground areas such as subway stations as well. I'll make sure Gordon knows what we're up against." Batman reaches out to unlock the shackles so that Manual can fall forward into his arms. He scoops him up and flips him over his shoulder.

"I'll make sure this kid gets sent back home to New York. As long as there are no open warrants on him. Though from what he assumed, they'll just come for him." He furrows his brows and thinks for a long moment as he glances between the pair of them. "Perhaps I can see about getting him and his mother protective custody in another state. Long as this kid didn't kill anyone."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    "Like I said -- Homeless and Hiding Spots." Sparrow replies, and she rolls her shoulder. "I'll reach out tonight and see if I can't find anything. The camp beneath the 5th street overpass has had new members."

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl nods. "We'll find them. I'll check the waterfront and dockyards. The loadmasters don't like change. If any thing has come up, they'll be more than willing to talk about it." She reaches up to tap her earpiece, "Oracle. Begin Project 20-60 upgrade.." talking as she makes her way toward the dark exit of the hidden bunker.