4366/Only Questions

Only Questions
Date of Scene:	30 April 2018
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Damian has an answer to the identity of Red X. Colette doubts EVERYTHING.
Cast of Characters:	Robin (Wayne), Stardust

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Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     New York City, First Ave, night time was just as busy as Metropolis. Though Damian had left a little out of place here.

  He had been sure to watch every night since Vorpal's attack. Keeping a silent vigil from a nearby rooftop. He'd never admit to it, but he cared for his teammates, well most of them anyway.

  The young hero had posted himself on the ledge of the rooftop, his hand pressed to his mask, operating minuscule controls that let him see from afar. A snoozing Goliath was close by, curled up like a dog with a blanket of leathery wings to warm him.

Stardust has posed:
"Boo." The word is spoken quietly, not enough to make anyone jump. Besides, you don't really want to go yelling "boo" this close to the Ghostbuster's HQ. Stardust descends quietly through the night to land on the same rooftop. She stops to give the sleeping Goliath the gentlest of pats before joining Damian on the ledge.

    She stares down at the lights of the hospital, but without telephoto lenses, she can't see much. "He'll be fine. He's a tough cat. He's probably had worse. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if he checked himself out already, via rabbit hole. You know Vorp, he's not one to sit still. Well, except when he's moping because his ego has been hurt. Which, to be fair, it has."

Stardust turns to look at Robin. She studies his face slightly longer than is entirely comfortable, before speaking. "You, on the other hand... feeling guilty?" She asks. She watches his reactions for just a moment before adding, "A good leader would."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Goliath opens his eyes for a moment, sees that it's Colette and almost immediately goes back to sleep after licking his chops a bit. Robin heard her approaching, but anyone willing to speak up next to Goliath while sleeping is either a friend, or very dumb.

  "Stardust." Robin says, adjusting his mask again. The very subtle vibrations and added heat of someone sitting right next to him cause one moment of his eyebrows raising. But he then focused on the window where Vorpal would be.

  Her asking Damian if he felt guilty only gives a grimace. It was exactly how he felt. He saw with his own eyes what he did to his friend. He did indeed look a bit forlorn, an expression hardly ever used by Damian.

Stardust has posed:
"The way I see it," Stardust continues, giving no signs of seeing anything in Robin's reactions, "there are two types of leader, and both of them are going to spend a fair bit of time feeling guilty. A leader in an army... they have to make decisions for the people below them who might suffer for that decision, and might never know why that decision was even made. Their soldiers are a weapon. But that leader, if they are any good anyway, is going to know that those 'weapons' feel pain, and feel guilty even if they are sure they made the right choice."

She stops talking to pull a couple of cans of soda out of a backpack, offering one to Robin before opening the other for herself and taking a swig. "It's different with us. We're not weapons, we're a team. The strength of a team is greater than its individual parts, that's the difference. We all bring something different to the table. And that makes leadership different. If you were to just make decisions for a team, like the leader of an army does, you'd be losing some of the strength of the team. Instead it has to be more about... guidance, I guess. So you'd feel guilty they more if you failed in your guidance."

She takes another swig of her drink. "Failed to make use of those individual strengths, for example. Or failed to tell someone something that could have saved them from suffering." By Colette standards, it's not an unusually long speech, but it's unusual for her to talk so long on one subject without getting distracted by other things. It's a fair bet she'd thought this little speech out in advance.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian looks down at the offered can, examining it for a moment before breaking the seal, taking a sip. "Sweet." Very sweet indeed, but his palette just isn't used to such things.

  Colette's speech hits Damian a little for a loop. Though her intended purpose is correct. "I think I know who Red X is." He sighs, leaning forward on his hands between his legs. "It's the only person I know that it could be." He comments, commenting further. "Her name is Mara. Mara al Ghul."

Stardust has posed:
"Mhmm." The response from Stardust is distinctly non-commital, and she's not showing any surprise by the revelation. "Let me guess. Your secret long-lost half-sister? Who's evil? There's always an evil long-lost half sibling. It's a shame you're not a girl. Then it would be a brother, and he could have a mustache to twirl."

It's perhaps not surprising that Colette can't keep up being serious for long. "Fits in with the assassin thing, so that bit at least checks out." She finishes her soda, then flattens the can against the ledge. It's a rather better flattening than people can usually pull off, she gets it pretty compact. Perhaps not the most productive display of super strength the world has ever seen. She picks up the flattened can, and rests it on the palm of her hand, holding it up to study it with an intense expression.

"Tell me about her. When was the last time you met her? Or heard from her? Or of her? I mean, ninja. You wouldn't necessarily see her even if she was around."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "She is my cousin. The daughter of Ra's' only son." He says, taking another drink. "When I was in the League, we were in line to be in charge of the Demon's Hand. Five of the best assassins the League can offer, it was to be my first foray into leading the League one day. All that ended once I fled."

  "If Ra's has sent her, its to take me out, and to become the leader of the Demon's Hand. Which means she has the full backing of The League of Assassins behind her." His words sound foreboding, dire. "Vorpal is only the start. She won't stop until she gets me."

Stardust has posed:
"Cousin. That's disappointing." Stardust keeps staring at the flatted soda can. It's beginning to glow distinctly blood red around the edges. "That's the low-rent B-list equivalent of an evil half-sibling. Still, I guess you have to get by with what you've got, even if you're an al-Ghul. Didn't you say that Ra's was dead though? Oh wait, yeah. Your family, that doesn't seem to mean very much."

She falls silent for a while, concentrating on the can, or possibly thinking. It gets redder and redder, and hot enough that its heat can be felt against the cool night air. "You didn't answer my question though. When was the last time you had any kind of contact with her?"

Stardust leans back suddenly, and stretches. She places the red-hot can on the ledge beside her, the turns to face Robin, her head tilted slightly. "What makes you think it's her, anyway?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin looks to the can, and the heat coming off it. "I didn't know you could do that." He comments. But he answers her question. "I last saw her, on Infinity Island. The League's headquarters. I've...not spoken to any of my family since then." He crushes the can once it is finished, and he lowers his hood. "I had to incapacitate her to get away."

Stardust has posed:
"I don't know what I can do either," Stardust answers. She doesn't seem exactly surprised by the red hot can, though. "I'm very new to all this, you know. Not all of us have been training for this their whole lives. Or, you know, at all. I mean even Breath has years on me when it comes to being prepared for all this. She's actually a pretty decent fighter. On the other hand, my powers? I'm not sure how much use it would be if I'd trained before I got them."

Stardust folds her hands in her lap, and looks down into the gloomy street below. "You should drink sodas more often, Robin. They're tasty, and sugar is good for a quick energy hit. Infinity Island, huh? That's a dramatic sounding name. Must have been hard, having to beat down your own cousin. You've had a pretty crappy life up until now, I guess. I hope it gets better. And no word from her since. How long ago was this? A while, right? Would she bear a grudge? I mean maybe she's acting alone?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin looks at the can and shakes his head. "Too many empty calories, too sweet." He reacted very...oddly to sweets.

  "We we're rivals, since we were very young. I was always the better. But even if she was acting alone, she would be acting with the blessing of Ra's, which means she could ask him for assistance in this. And my families hold grudges for epically long times." Yes, he meant both of them.

Stardust has posed:
"The amount of calories you burn, a few empty ones for a quick fix shouldn't pose a problem." Stardust looks at the hand the can had been balancing on, and then rubs her hands together to get rid of the scorched paint marks, then stands up, picks up her back pack and slings it over one shoulder. She looks down at Robin in silence for a few moments.

"Not if she's gone rogue. I mean you did, so why shouldn't she?" Stardust asks. "Don't jump to conclusions. I'll remember that about Batman, though." She must have got his meaning. She rises slowly into the air, ready to fly away. "Bye Robin. Ten bucks says it's not your cousin." And she's gone.

She's probably trying to be infuriating.