2356/Redbirds and Bucklers

Redbirds and Bucklers
Date of Scene:	07 September 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Robin (Wayne), Melinda May, Batman

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Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Late night in Gotham, of course wouldn't be night without Robin out keeping an eye on things. Damian Wayne of course had crouched down for now, keeping an ear out for someone needing help, or of course a crime going down that he would need to intervene on.

  There was a Gators game letting out, and of course that had produced easy marks for gangs and the like to target. Near the edifice that housed Drop Dead Investigations, a couple of gentlemen, possibly just a bit over-served were walking along back to the Skytrain Station. "I tell ya, the Gators always will get one over on Metropolis. Every *hic* time!" The two weren't causing an issue at all, if not a cursory glance from Robin and a dismissing ">TT<" to their drunken state.

  Robin had moved his watch to another part of the street for now, the yellow lining of his cape bellowing in the breeze.

Melinda May has posed:
Having just finished another fruitless chat with Dresden, May has collected her electronic devices from where she concealed them and is leaving the building that houses the man's office. She pauses on the front step to stow her phone and a few other small items inside her jacket as the two men clearly walking away from a just-ended sporting event pass by.

Walking down the steps, she turns to follow the two men, but only because that's the direction in which her car is parked. She really would have preferred to arrive via quinjet because it's faster, but she couldn't really justify the expense. Hence, it's a generic black SUV about three blocks away.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     A couple blocks down, a group of five men approach the impromptu group as they make their way down. A light click of a switchblade and the lead man calls. "Hey, you know the deal, money, phones, jewelry in the bag." Two other men hold out bags as they flank the boosters and the lady. "Aww shit man! I juss got this phone." One of the inebriated men says, producing the phone and placing it in the bag.

  Robin, meanwhile holds a finger to his ear, getting a ping that sounds an awful like a mugging. Only confirmed by the shriek of a passerby at what was going on. The young man shoots a grapnel to swing by and arrive, luckily he had been close. The addition of another person just had Damian more into hero mode at this point. The boy lands behind the thugs, only to announce. "Guess again, a&$h@*^+." He offers, before kicking the blade out of the led guy's hand. No one seems armed further than knives, no guns, luckily. It was supposed to be a quick stickup.

Melinda May has posed:
May pulls her hands from her jacket pockets and stands seemingly unthreateningly when the little gang of thugs surround her and the two sports fans. She doesn't move as the other two start to relinquish their belongings, and is quite possibly the only one out of all of them to not startle when the ... kid? Is that a KID? masked child appears seemingly out of nowhere to stop the mugging.

Taking advantage of the surprise, she turns, takes a step, and uses an aikido throw to neatly take one of the muggers to the sidewalk. Any blade he might have had in hand is pulled from him in the throw and then tossed well out of the way as May moves to focus on the next closest mugger.

Who's ready for a short Asian woman to wipe the ground with them without speaking a single word?

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "Ya heard him lady, give up the-huk!" Obviously these thugs were not the kind of supercriminals May had gone up against. Easily dispatched from consciousness as they were.

  White eyes keep on the situation as it unfurls. A swift spin against the man pinning him down and a hard punch to the chin, and he's knocked out. Robin jumps, flipping over one of the sports fans while he punches another with a flurry of swift punches. The small fifteen year old was definitely in the zone taking down these partially-organized thugs.

  Damian only smiles a devilish grin while he gives the guy enough of a beat down to make him regret his decision.

Melinda May has posed:
Unlike the masked child, this isn't fun and games for May. She downs each mugger stupid enough to be in her way quickly and decisively, hitting to incapacitate without causing permanent damage. For anyone with the training to recognize such things, the strikes, kicks, and throws she uses are a mix of no less than five different martial arts styles, and include one thug collapsing as if to a Vulcan nerve pinch when she targets a nerve bundle in one thug's neck.

This is so beneath her it's pathetic.

The moment the last would-be mugger is downed, she reaches into her jacket and pulls a small bundle of tie wraps of the sort that law enforcement officers use from time to time.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin himself pulls some of those zip ties out of his utility belt, zipping a couple of guys together to a lamp post. A simple grab of the bag and Robin gave back the phone and wallets to the two sports fans. "Hey thanks man, dude it's Robin! And uhh, lady. He's a lot shorter than I bought he'd be."

  ">tt< Yeah, just get home safely, you should have been cut off way before now." Robin offers before letting the two guys on their way. "You're trained." He offers to May, an obvious statement, but an ice breaker none the less. "GCPD?"

Melinda May has posed:
May finishes helping truss up the muggers and looks the masked kid up and down appraisingly. Flatly. She is clearly unimpressed. "Do I look like a police officer?" She doesn't sound like a native Gothamite, at least. She pulls her phone from an inside jacket pocket and places a quick call. "Ops, May. Alert GCPD to an attempted mugging at..." she pauses to look at the closest street signs and relays their names. "No, they've been dealt with and are waiting for the authorities to pick them up." She's silent for a few seconds as the person on the other end of the call speaks, then replies even more flatly than before, "No. It's fine. May out." And she hangs up the call before returning the phone to her jacket.

"I take it you'd rather not be here when the actual police arrive?" she asks of the oddly chipper young man.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Before Robin could even tag their location on GPS for the GCPD, May has already called in someone to pick them up.

  In retort to the slender lady: "Do I look like a master assassin?" He was, not any more but he still was. "We keep to the shadows for a reason." Even if there was a gentleman's agreement between the Bat and GCPD, it's never good to keep there.

Melinda May has posed:
May doesn't answer the kid's no doubt rhetorical snarky question, as much as she wants to. "I won't keep you then. Have a good night." She turns to continue on her way to the SUV parked down the way a bit, apparently unconcerned about turning her back on the masked child despite the fact that he proved to be a surprisingly proficient fighter considering his age.

She walks at an unhurried pace, just another pedestrian as if the fight moments ago hadn't occurred.

Batman has posed:
"Maybe in another suit." The Dark Knight, on the other hand, is entirely willing to answer the rhetorical question, in desert-parched sarcastic tones. He's perched atop a streetlight on May's way down the street, the opposite direction the couple went.

Behind a spotlight is a deceptively stealthy spot-- He's in its shadows, not its illumination. Even if one looks up, the first thing they look into is blinding light. It's likely May, skilled as she is, doesn't notice the master of those shadows until he speaks.

Batman's impassive, cowled gaze passes from Robin, to May, and back to Robin. "She's not your mother.' it's unusual for the Bat to tease, even in such dry fashion, in any mixed company. Perhaps part of that is in the more serious explanation, "Agent May is S.H.I.E.L.D.. Or is it W.A.N.D.?" It's only a partial explanation for familiar terms with the Caped Crusader, admittedly.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian does not flinch at the sudden arrival of Batman. "I gave that one up anyway. Too small now." Robin brushes it off, being Robin suits him much more anyway.

  "Astute observation, Father." Robin says with a bit of a huff and palpable teenage sarcasm, holding up the skull whistle around his neck. "I was waiting to call Goliath, lest I scare the locals." The bat dragon is never the most discreet of transportation methods, but it suited the young man.

Melinda May has posed:
At the sound of the voice nearly overhead, May stops. She doesn't visibly startle, so it's difficult to tell whether or not she already knew he was there. (spoiler: she didn't, but she's not about to admit to that.) "Depends on when you ask. Currently, WAND." Which would explain why she'd just left the office of a known magic user.

Not bothering to look up and blind herself, she seems oddly unperturbed by having Batman perched almost directly overhead. "Are you here to ask or offer?"

Batman has posed:
"It's a narrow role." The dry delivery obfuscates weighty layers to the Bat's seemingly simple assessment of Damian's life in the League of Assassins. It's also not a life easily eschewed. The Dark Knight has warned Damian that his mother is dangerous, values her insane father above all else in the world save maybe her own life and ambition; but he doesn't repeat it here.

Instead, Batman produces a flash drive from a slot in his belt, and drops it directly before May. Even if she can't look up to see it coming, it's angled to cross her vision, and be an easy catch. Simple, for someone like her. It's a lesson Damian's already observed firsthand.

"Probably nothing you don't already know, given where you're coming from. Correlations of ritualized bloodsport, abduction, and murder throughout the area." He cheerfully explains, "What data I've gathered on the users transformed by demon blood that found its way into the recreational market, and the likely perpetrators." Beat. "We may have a serious infestation on our hands." It's likely he was going to talk to Dresden, rather than either of them-- if one is a great enough detective to deduce such.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     ">tt<" Of course they knew each other. Robin simply nods at the mention of SHIELD and WAND, not knowing much about them himself.

  Robin had been on the way to find out just where his mother was, and possibly find out more about himself than he ever wanted to know. "Blood's been a thorn in our side since I got here." A coincidence, most likely, since that avenue was probably vetted by Batman already, and doesn't follow the League's MO.

  "Bringing in the acronyms now on the Blood?" He asks Batman, Robin was much less experienced at detective work, but he certainly wanted to learn more at that part.

Melinda May has posed:
While she was not expecting Batman to drop anything toward her, her reflexes are indeed fast enough that the moment it crosses into her line of sight her left hand snaps out to catch the flash drive before it falls past her reach. "Thank you. While you're researching this angle, if you find out anything about crossroads demons or a demon with yellow eyes, please notify me immediately."

May finally turns to look at Robin again, as she can look at him without a streetlight blinding her. "Maybe next time it'll be your turn to contribute to a SHIELD investigation." You know, so the whole alliance thing doesn't end up feeling too one-sided.

Batman has posed:
He may fancy himself the Demon's Head, but as far as the Bat can tell, actually binding the damned things to his will remains out of Ra's al Ghul's admittedly considerable repertoire. "We don't know how much supply reached the street, or exactly how many infected are out there." It's simple to see why the Caped Crusader might want SHIELD aware-- but he's patient explaining it to Robin anyway.

"I'll go back over my notes for anything that didn't match up to this outbreak." He concedes in May's direction. It's been too many years since he had the luxury of being a skeptic. Now, it's exhaustive research.

"You know how to reach me." It's as good as 'if you need anything...' in response to the mention of assistance, but notably more dour; terse. In Agent May's case, 'how to reach me' is a specific terminal at a public library convenient to her commute. Because Batman is the posterboy for thoughtful.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin crosses his arms, not in contempt, just making a gesture. "Just what I've always wanted to do." He offers, of course in that lovely sarcastic tone.

  "But...if you need it, I'm game." Robin offers, in just a bit of copying his perched father. First it's saving teammates and good citizens, next it's assisting investigations. Much more growing to do.

Melinda May has posed:
May actually gives the young man another, more evaluating look when he offers to help after the sarcastic quip. Typical teenager, though is he offering because he feels obligated to, or because he genuinely wants to help? She suspects she'll have to wait and see.

"I do know how to reach you. You also know my emergency contact info." She knows Batman is fully aware of it, but she notes this again so that the kid in the mask would be aware that she can be reached as well if the need is dire enough. And, with that being said, unless the caped pair have more to add, she shifts her weight to turn and continue on her way.

Batman has posed:
"I thought you were on a mission." Batman does little to forestall Agent May's continuing on, leaving the veteran operative to her business... and taking care of a last bit of his. Despite the dry chiding of Robin for his easy diversion back to the task of the moment-- something that the Bat may actually appreciate-- he's redirected anew.

A press of a few buttons on his glove transmits data wirelessly to Damian's suit, and HUD. Initially, an image of a ship, then the deckplans and predicted points of entry and patrol. "The prow says 'Eastern Dreams' at the moment, but it's had a lot of names." The Dark Knight explains, somewhat enigmatically.

"Last registered departure was from Madripoor," A hive of scum and villainy if ever there was one, '... likely with a fraudulent manifest. It's been splitting time between Gotham and New York." A hop across the bay. "Shouldn't be too hard to track down, if you're quick. And determined to see her." The Caped Crusader -clearly- finds it a poor idea; but facilitates the meeting anyway.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian gives a nod to the lady from S.H.I.E.L.D. "Agent May."

  The young man had moved his attention to Batman. He looks just the slightest bit disappointed, it's one of those things that he feels torn between. "I have to know what exactly the Lazarus Pits had done to me. If it was enough for them, it is enough to be concerned about." He grapples up to a street lamp, his mask meeting his father's cowl.

  "Thank you, Father." He says, a rare genuine thank you from the boy. "I'll be back. I swear it." He's made his oath to not kill any longer, and he is serious about keeping it. A quick blow on the skull whistle and Damian grapples up higher, so that he can hitch a ride on his guardian bat dragon.