222/Bats, Cats, Croc; OH MY!

Bats, Cats, Croc; OH MY!
Date of Scene:	30 April 2017
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	In which Batgirl and Chat Noir team up against Killer Croc, a street gets destroyed, and the Ladyblog gains another follower. Plagg is annoyed at the lack of cheese. No one is surprised.
Cast of Characters:	142, Oracle

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Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
In the dark of night, two heros patrol. One a bat, the other a cat.

I promise I will try to avoid iambic pentameter. It might be hard, but I will give it my all!

It's a threat from below that brings these two unlikely but purrfectly rhyming heros together.
A crocodile; but no! Not the Tick Tock Croc. Killer Croc.
The battle has been underway for several minutes now. Civilians have already run screaming. There's a crash as Chat gets flung into the side of a parked car, for he had - as he usually does for Ladybug - leaped in front of the heroine to take the swipe of the reptile's massive tail.

Oracle has posed:
Okay, how does she get into these messes?

So she was tracing a lead on the whole... you know, Bruce Wayne being dead and infinite batmans thing, when... her world got croced. Wincing as Chat Noir leaps in front of a tail swipe meant for her, Babs nimbly backflips over a car, putting it between her and... "Waylon!"

Whipping her arm up and back, a glint of light shines off of two bat-shaped pieces of metal in her hand, and in a moment, she flings those forward to lodge in the chest of the giant criminal - which stops him in his tracks as he was beginning to stop over towards Chat. Turning around towards Barbara, and the car she was hiding behind, he almost releases a sigh, bringing up a hand to brush the batarangs from his thick chest.

"Gotta do better than that!" he growls.

Fortunately for Chat, and less fortunately for Babs - he starts to charge towards Batgirl's position - hoping to go /through/ the car at her.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Chat groans faintly, ears ringing.

Normally the magical properties of his suit protects him. And in all fairness, it had since that tail swipe would normally have broken things if he hadnt been in the suit. It just goes to show the parisian feline that this foe was way stronger than he had been given it credit for.

Because the flung man-hole cover and tossed vehicle didn't give it away before.

Hand to his blonde head, Chat looks up as Croc starts for him. Out of reflex, his hand goes to the small of his back... and finds nothing. Ears give a faint shudder of surprise as Chat's head clears enough to remind him that he had put his baton in the jaws of the beast to keep Croc from chomping just a moment ago. Chat was not used to creatures like Croc having opposible thumbs, and Chat's baton was grabbed and flung away. It came to a clattering stop too far away to be useful.

Seeing Croc starting to charge his current fighting companion clears Chat's head a bit further, and he shoves himself to his feet and into a run. Claws gleam faintly, his green eyes harsh and almost glowing in the dark (LASERS ACTIVATE! Tell me you've seen those cat memes!), Chat Noir leaps for Croc's back, trying to sink claws into scales.

"Still not done with mew, Lizard Face!" Chat growls aloud.

Oracle has posed:
amgggggggg i have so seen those cat memes

Barbara's mind was racing over Killer Croc's file. How did Batman take him out before? Electricity? Easy. Some of her batarangs had electric shocks attached to them. Reaching for those - BATGIRL kinda starts in place as her hands find... nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"This is why you take a full utility belt, /every time/, Batgirl." Babs murmurs to herself. Snapping up her hand to lift her BatLauncher instead - Killer Croc takes a swing at her, and she deftly cartwheels to one side, aiming the launcher at... a fire escape across the street. Using it to launch herself forward, she drives her knees into the shoulders of Killer Croc as she goes, deftly evading his attempt to grab her.

What mighta helped too was Chat trying to dig his claws into the thick scales of the man. He'd have to go deep, but eventually... little droplets of blood might appear under Chat's claws. "...ow." says Waylon. He didn't sound too convinced. "You know, I got problems enough with Batman. Ain't need ta deal with no Batgirl, or her Catman," he says.

Hopefully, Chat would have the good sense to let go, because Waylon jumps up - and hopes to land, flat on his back, in the street. With Chat Noir beneath him.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Dank cat memes.

Chat clings for a heartbeat as Croc flips himself up into the air. One quick glance abot and Chat makes a choice. He pushes clear, leaping toward the ground right where Croc means to land. As he leaps, there's a cry from his throat: "Cataclysm!"

A sudden smoke covers his right hand.

Chat lands on his hands on the street and shoves himself away, landing on his feet near Batgirl. No hesitation from the cat, for he grabs Batgirl about the waist, and leaps up for another fire escape as behind him the street blackens, decays, and crumbles into dust forming a hole larger enough and deep enough to drop Croc right back into the sewers from which he came.

Chat, Batgirl set on her feet as he perches on the railing, looks back over his sholder at the mess.

"Well meow, that wasn't all the cat-astrophic..."

Oracle has posed:
He was grabby. Batgirl wasn't precisely the easiest person to grab, either. He tries to grab for her, and Babs manages to step away - nonetheless using her BatLauncher to grapple onto the railing that Chat was no doubt aiming for, thwipping up towards that way.

And she furrows her brows beneath the hood, glancing down towards the mess. "So. I guess we never really got a chance to introduce ourselves," says Babs, looking down at the mess with no small look of consternation upon her features. "By the time the police dig him out of that mess - they should know they have Croc beneath it. And probably warn them to bring tazers and extra-strength bindings."

If he doesn't vanish.

"I wonder what Waylon was after - he rarely goes above ground, you know? Not since the..." Babs waves over her head. "...rar."

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
The direction was intentional. It let Chat scoop up his baton. He had planned to manage it while holding on to Batgirl, but when she side stepped him, he just used the freedom to make sure his swipe for his 'weapon' was clean. It's returned to the little holder at the small of his back even as her 'sits' on the railing. He's perched on the balls of his feet, knees bent so that he's low, and his left hand is holding the rail between his feet, so he looks like a cat sitting peacefully. Behind him, the leather belt that serves as a tail is up as a counter balance. One leather 'ear' flicks like a real ear, swivelling toward where cops will likely come from.

"We should take care of introductions right meow then, since I don't have much time left," Chat says grinning. His right hand comes forward, held out for a hand shake.

"Chat Noir." A beat. "Are you related to the Rat in a Cape... some guy? In Gotham? I saw in the paper he killed someone? And then I ran into him at a fabric factory..." Chatty Chaton into Babs holding her arms up and he grins hugely at it.

Oracle has posed:
The flicking leather ear was probably the bit that drew the most of Barbara's attention. A robotic ear? Was it biological? Magical? Open curiousity in the blue eyes of the woman - and she shakes her head to clear it, letting her eyes go to Chat's own features then. Like the other, Barbara had a superb sense of balance - although, perhaps not as good as a cat's, all told.

"I don't think either of us do," says Barbara, bringing up her modified batsmartphone to tap a few keys on it - sending out a BatText to the police to warn them of Killer Croc's presence beneath the rubble. "There's a lot of damages, but..." A beat. Introductions.

"Batman? No, Batman doesn't kill anyone - not the real one, at least. There's some interdimensional stuff going on there." A beat, and Barbara chews on her lower lip, taking ahold of Chat's hand and giving it a shake. "I'm Batgirl, you know? I guess that means I'm kinda related - but he started the whole Bat thing. So... you related to Catwoman at all, oh, Black Cat?" she says, with a wryness at the edges of her lips.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
The ear isn't robotic. No faint whirring. Plus the motion was smooth, organic. But it's clearly made of the same stuff of his suit and there look like little rivets or clips or something that is holding each little triangle to his hair. Which really only leaves one possibility.

Chat's green eyes, slitted like a cat's, notes Batgirl staring, and he grins lopsidely, smirking faintly. He won't say it but it's there, ont eh tip of his tongue.

"I am the cat's meow, huh?"

Wait, that was out loud? Oh well. Chat just grins at it, not seeming at all bothered by talking first and thinking later. The ring on his right hand beeps once, and Chat glances down to it.

Damn. Has it already been one minute? He glances back up at Batgirl.

WIth a rueful grin, like a cat that's knocked a glass off a counter, was caught, and is now looking cute so as to avoid a spray of water to the face, Chat brings a hand up to ruff the hair at the back of his head.

"Yeah... normally My Lady fixes it... Well. It couldn't be helped. It was that or end up as one squished kitty!" There's an airy sort of laugh before introductions.

"Bat-girl. Okay then. I can see it meow. Batgirl." Chat is nodding, smiling, right hand now at his chin as he stroked it thoughtfully, head canted to one side. At least until she says Catwoman, and Chat blink blinks.

"Cat...woman? Oh. No. Never heard of her. There really is a Catwoman? That's.." Chat pauses a moment, then frowns lightly. Back arches, as if he were fluffing out fur, hackles rasied.

"Just plain weird."

Because a young man in a cat suit who can destroy things with a touch isn't. Riiiight.

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl groans a bit at all his puns. "Jeez, you're worse than... other guys I know," says Barbara - the smile nonetheless playing at the edge of her lips. There, in the distance - the sirens were coming - the blue and red lights playing in the Gotham gloom.

The ring beeping draws Barbara's attention that way. She purses her lips a bit, letting her eyes track back up towards Chat. Okay - now... alien with strange tech was in her differential - not that she was /really/ trying to figure out the other guy's origin. But she was a Batperson. It's kinda what they all constantly did. His Lady? A brow curls beneath her cowl. The significance of the beeping was lost on her, for better or for worse.

"I think she is too - you know. She loves cats, everything is 'purrfect'..." she makes air-quotes with her fingers. "She steals a lot though, she's a thief. But, you know, she jumps around in leather too..." A beat, and Babs grins. "Speaking as a Bat-person, I don't think I can comment on how weird cat-people are," she says - the sparkle in her eye probably doing all the commenting for her.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"Aww. You love the puns!" Chat quips warmly, tail tip curling in amusement and pleasure both. His grin is bright, like the Cheshire Cat's, his eyes amused and laughing. Right until Batgirl says that Catwoman is a theif. The change in his expresion is clear as daylight. It's revulsion, the expression of a person who does not condone theft, doesn't partake in it himself, doesn't see the need in it at all, and someone who's had his good name and face spoiled by a theif.

"Ugh! No, Batgirl! This chaton is no cat burgler," he states, right hand coming up as if he were swearing an oath. And his left hand in on a rusty fire escape railing.

"This tomcat is always feline honest," he states so solemnly. He has to know how horrible that sounded.

Beep.

Chat's green eyes flick and focus on his ring. The solemn little smile of his oath fades into a frown.

"Three minutes left. Either I run for it now, or I find a place to hole up while my ring recharges," he says, lowering his hand. His eyes go back to Batgirl, and her mask, and he grins that cheshire grin again.

"Secret identities are pawsome, aren't they?"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara starts to stalk from the railing towards the roof proper - more to stop providing a profile against the night sky as the cops begin to file out of the police cars, Barbara sets her hands on her hips. Likewise, her own smile falters a bit when his does. It was obvious he didn't like theft at all - and Barbara finds her nodding her head mutely to it.

"Good. She's annoying. Of course, Batman might call you annoying too, but... one step at a time, right?" says Batgirl, a little smile tugging at the edges of her lips.


"They /are/ pawsome, and I wouldn't want you to furget to hide before your little ring runs out of time, if that's how it works," says Barbara, her eyes flickering from Chat's eyes towards the ring again. "It might be good to kinda get out of here, too - in case the police start lookin' around. Wouldn't want to get spotted and all - and maybe blamed for the giant hole in the street that's gonna make traffic amazing tomorrow morning, I guarantee it."

Babs grins.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Cat-like, Chat Noir bounds along with Batgirl, all fours on the railings and then standing to his full six and a half feet of height when they are away from the edge.

"I'm pretty sure he did," Chat quips of Batman calling him annoying. WOrking next to the bats, however, has been an interesting change of pace. They move so much like him. Shadows and stealth and full on martial arts.

And then there are Batgirl's puns. They make Chat grin hugely.

"Well. I did cause the hole, so being blamed fur it really isn't malicious," the grin falters a bit, Chat glancing backwards behind him toward the street.

"I just wish M'Lady was here to repair it...." is the faint murmur, a note of sad loneliness drifitng through those otherwise carefree tones of his voice.

Beep!

"Ah! Right! Yes. That's exactly how it... The recharge doesn't take long," Chat stammers faintly, mind half on what he's saying - what IS he saying? Implying that if he finds a dark corner, he's willing to trust Batgirl to keep her back to him? - and half on finding a hidey hole.

"...and I've got some cheese with me..."

What?

Oracle has posed:
Batgirl reaches the roof proper, only standing up straight once she has slunk onto it. Batgirl was probably never going to be as fluid as Batman himself was - she was sneaky, perhaps - moving deep in the darkness like that, in a way trained like Batman had been - but... she was a little clumsier, for sure.

She wasn't a living cat, after all. Or Batman. But who is Batman, really?

"Your Lady - she can fix things like that? Maybe you can give her a call?" asks Barbara, straightening up and stretching out - a series of pops coming from her neck and spine. A beat, though.

Barbara kinda narrows her eyes at Chat, as she tries to... "Oh, right! I mean, I can turn around, if that will help...?" A beat, though. "...cheese? What?"

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
Paw to forehead. Duh Chat!

"Great idea!" he says, pulling his baton and sliding part of it down to reveal something like a small cell phone. a button press and... he frowns.

"Nothing. She must not be transformed," he says, sounded dejected before his ring beeps again. He starts and quickly puts the baton away. His eyes sweep about, spying an old A/C roof unit with one side rusty. He bounds over and shreds that side with his claws, ripping apart the metal into a hole big enough for him to crawl into.

"Yeah. Cheese. My kwami, he..." At thrity seconds the beep turns a bit frantic, a double-tap of a racing heart beat. "Yeah. Back turned. purrfect. Thank you. Won't be but a bit!" And Chat dives into the space about hte size of a large dog house.

A flash of black and green. And then silence.

Oracle has posed:
"Hey! You know - now they're going to be hot all day tomorrow!" Barbara objects to the shredding of the A/C unit. A heavy sigh, and she turns her back to the unit. Kwami? Cheese? Stuff to look up later, with the BatComputer. Maybe she'd find something - but usually, with those strange magical doodads - they didn't show up in databases.

Barbara uses the moments to kinda slink over to the edge of the roof, and watch the police mill around, chewing on the side of her lip. "So!" she calls back. "You worked with Batman a little bit already?" she asks, before her eyes go forward again.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"That was way too close kid! What were you thinking? Oh, wait, I forgot. You don't. Where's my cheese? I'm STARVING!" comes the voice now. It's small but firm with a cat-like whiny growl to it. One can hear soft shuffles and then..

French, Chat Noir: "Here, here. Where are y-ouch! Don't bite me!"
English, cat-like and growly: "You were in the way of the cheese."
French: "Well, I can't see in the-"
English: "I can."
French: "Yeah, lucky you."

A beat. Batgirl's voice reaches him, the A/C unit not working. If it had been before.

"Umm.. Yes. I have," Chat Noir replies in English from in his 'shelter'. His voice is different, gentler sounding, than it was before he had to hide. The purring velvelt quality is gone, leaving just the sound of an oridinary young man, perhaps not even out of American high school.

And that's the big thing. While Chat Noir had used some french words, with a perfect accent, he had no real accent. Now that the transformation has lost its hold, what must be Chat Noir's civilian speaking voice has a noticeable but pleasant French accent. It doesn't hamper communication in anyway, revealing that the frenchman behind the mask is fluent in English, but it is very obviously not his first language.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara couldn't help but eavesdrop - she /knew/ it was bad, but... narrowing her eyes as the discussion switches to French as well, she has a little quirk of her head to the side, Barbara's eyes on the police, but her attention back towards...

A buzz in her ear. "Yeah." she says, whispering to no one in particular. "Killer Croc was rampaging - I'm not sure what Waylon was after, but it ended up with him buried in a buncha rubble, in the sewer. The police are tryin' to pull him out now... yes, I warned them." Another beat. Barbara brings up a hand, scratching at one side of her neck. The little mystery of the accent was lost on her, but the second... voice?

Superheroes and mutants could get weird. It made the whole thing a little awkward, a lotta times. "You... uh... okay in there?" she calls.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
French: "Are you don't yet?"
English, muffled with mouth ful: "Not. Hold your wiggle-butt, kid."
French: "...my butt does not wiggle."
"English: "You know you're a cat, right?"
French: "Not right now I'm-"

Batgirl calls out, and so does Chat, in his civilian's voice, accent and all.

"Yes. Fine. Just a few more moments. I am so sorry for this!"

Oracle has posed:
"You know - I probably should get going anyway - would that be easier? I mean - then you... ah... you wouldn't need to hide in that dusty broken A/C vent, you know?" says Barbara. The vent was probably fine, on second thought. All of the major ventery was down below - but not having the casing would probably mean more dust and maybe even small animals would get cause in there.

Kinda flipping over onto her butt, and backing up against the side of the roof, Barbara brings up her smartphone - fingers flying over the thing as she looks up... something on it.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"If you need to," he starts, then there's a shift in his voice. It's not that he powers up, but that his attitude shifts.

"Far be it fur me to keep mew." He puns. In his civilian form. There's no purr to the r's, no feline lilt to the 'mew', and yet, it's still very clearly Chat Noir.

"The company is nice though," he comments then. "And I don't mind. It'll be easier crawling out again once I'm powered up anyway, so even if you left I wouldn't be going anywhere until Plagg's done eating."

Batcomputer Search Results: Chat Noir - Parisian hero, appeared 2023. Known associate of Ladybug. Link to: Ladyblog, maintained by Alya Cesaire. There are a number of videos, various times of day though mostly in broad daylight, of the two working in tandum. The articles written speculate mostly on Ladybug. He is clearly the 'sidekick' for he is not given quite as much attention as Ladybug is. Additional links: Chat Noir fan sites, no exposition or thought, just forum for pictures of Chat Noir. Yes, there are Chat Memes here, and plenty of attention on the fact that he's a well built young man in skin tight black leather, whose blonde and has a very dashing smile. There are several of him actually looking at the camera. His eyes are magnetic, teh grin feral and carefree. All of the shots of him where he seems aware of the camera are all that same sort of... I know eaxactly how to shift my shoulders so this picture will look awesome. Even when it's a picture of him standing next to Ladybug. Chat's standing in a way where he looks sleek and like a cat all too proud of itself and its looks and yet.. somehow... Ladybug is still the focus of the picture. Likely because every line of Chat's body in those pictures point right back to Ladybug.

Batcomputer Search: Kwami - quantic kami, kami: Japanese translation "god".

Batcompuer search: Plagg - 404 File Not Found.

Oracle has posed:
Scrolling through the information, Batgirl gets a faraway look to her blue eyes as she considers.

"I don't mind hanging out then," says Barbara, her tone of voice thoughtful, distracted. "Say - how long have you been in Gotham?" she asks, calling back out towards the A/C unit, scratching at her thigh idly.

Another beat, and Babs kinda purses her lips, letting her mind wander a touch. "He doesn't look Japanese... that can't be it."

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"Not long," Chat replies. Vague response is vague! In the A/C unit, Adrien gives a faint sigh, waiting for Plagg to finish eating the wheel of camembert cheese he had for him. A mental note is made to pick up more, and Adrien rests his head against the inside of the unit.

"You?"

Oracle has posed:
"Only my whole life," chirps Batgirl in return. Drawing her hand down to her Batbelt, she brings up a pair of minature binoculars, leaning over to observe as some of the policemen start entering the rubble, guns drawn. Her lips purse.

"What brings you to Gotham then?" she says. A beat, and she sighs at herself. This was sounding like an interrigation.

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"Curiosity," quips the Chat. Can't you hear the grin in his voice?

In the shelter, Adrien feels no more movement in the palm of his hand. A light frown and he whispers for his kwami, with no response.

"Don't ask what keeps me coming back," he adds as he is carefully bringing his other hand over to try to feel for the cat-spirit whom he was sure was still in his hand.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara makes a little sound in the back of her throat. The police were not armed with pistols - she sees - but high voltage tazer guns - no doubt purchased from the Fujiwara-Stark, or Wayne corporations. Straightening up again, Barbara leans forward against the edge of the building, feeling for her batlauncher.

"Well, if you ever need to take out a lumbering crazy alligator man - or, you know, anything else strange and scary - when in Gotham - ah... look me up?" There was almost a wink in Barbara's voice, though. Bringing up her hand, she fires the BatLauncher at a nearby rooftop, though, and starts swinging over that way. "I'll check you later, alright, Chat Noir?"

Adrien Agreste (142) has posed:
"Alright. Bye, Batgirl. Cat-ch you later," replies Chat from the A/C unit. It's a few moment after Batgirl has left that sound comes from the A/C unit again.

Chat Noir: "Ugh! Plagg! Did you really fall asleep?!"

Kwami: "How are you waking me up? I'm so tired. Leave me alone to digest all this wonderful-"

Chat Noir: "You are a menace. Claws out."

Plagg: "What. Wait! Ah!"

Chat crawls out of the unit, looking around at the empty roof. He shrugs and bounds away, over the rooftops, back toward New York.