2013.08.01 - Gotham and Gimmicks

One thing that Gotham has in great supply is gimmicks. 
Every group of gangster from Old Gotham to the waterfront has one. There's the 'Go gett'em boyz', a rag tag group of fifteen something hoods who peddle in robbery of store fronts and the 'Bear tooth brawlers' who run underground fighting rings all across the city. 
Neither of those groups are here tonight. 
One of the many patients of Arkham Asylum, recently released on 'followed one of the major criminals out during their escape' is holed up here with a group of his closest psychotic associates. His name is Oscar Mann, but he's one of those guys who's desperately trying to break into the 'big time' by adopting a different gimmick every time he's out. 
A few months ago, he was 'The Pillager', but tonight? 'Captain Caveman'. 
Dressed in bear skin and wielding heavy clubs, him and his 'gang' are hostaging a few unlucky teenagers who happened upon the abandoned amusement park thinking they would have a goodtime. 
Police have not yet been alerted, but video surveylance being monitored by Alfred has sent three of the Gotham Knights in to deal with the situation before it gets out of hand. 
Nightwing pulled up on his motorcycle only just recently and has scaled one of the taller, rusted, atractions with some rather fancy acrobatics, providing on site intel to his two companions. 
While Batgirl has been part of the group for several months now, and some level of conversation has been achieved, she's still not terribly well understood by her fellow crimefighters. For the most part she eschews the verbal intel, or one would assume by how little reaction the valuable information gets from her. She doesn't drive and so she arrives somewhat later, taking a more manual mode of transportaion.
While Nightwing takes the high road, she slips from shadow to shadow, heading towards the location that's a bright red blinking dot on her HUD.
"I really hope they're wearing something under that," Robin says into his comm. He's flattened to a rooftop nearby, one of the concession stands. Frank's Big Weiners or something, whatever. He's doing a little bit of intel-gathering himself through his binoculars. "Ten to one, these guys are going to be /rank/. I just have a feeliing."
He stows his gear in his belt and then does some careful descending until he's crouched behind a ticket booth. "R in position."
In his HUD, Nightwing visually confirms the presence of the silent 'sister' and his vocal 'brother' in their positions as they close in on their targets. "Hope you brought your bat-deoderant." Said without a smile on his face, but the words themself are sing songy, almost lyrical. 
Down in the open area where the hostage situation is happening, the smallest of the 'cavemen' moves towards his new found playthings with a club almost as big as him slung over his shoulder. 'You are evolutionary flawed. We are the superior...' blah blah blah, same tired speach from a tired gimmicky villain. 
It's nearly enough to drive Dick up the wall. Where do they dig these clowns up? 
"Batgirl, there's two sentries near the ticket booth. Looks like they have some kind of slingshot... jesus these guys are rediculous." Pause, "Bring them down hard and fast." 
Nightwing is on the move, sliding out from his cover and jumping towards an adjacent rung the next level down on the farris wheel, swinging easily into a distance stalling sumersault and landing in a clipped roll a little closer to ground level. 
"Robin, draw their attention left for Batgirl, then flank back into the shadows on their left. I want to shut these losers down quick." 
Said while side flipping out onto one of the support railings, temporarily pearching there and then twisting backwards through the air like a black and blue human pinball towards the 'ticket counter' booth beneath him. 
No laughter, no chuckle at Nightwing's teasing tone comes from the silent one. That grim focus she tends towards is reminescent of someone else in an equally dark costume but a whole lot bigger than she is. 
Batgirl doesn't need to focus on the English-to-ASL translator that lives off to one side of her HUD so she can follow the comms, and the others have worked with her enough to have taken into account how little information she gets from words and tone. When Nightwing flags the ticket booth she starts to move with sure, silent movements, her cape the barest of whispers in the night. Once she spots them that sense of carefulness that most wouldn't even have noticed to her movements falls away. She takes care of things in her usual manner. Head-first and at full speed. Hard and fast is what she does best.
Robin bites back a snicker. "Never leave home without it," he quips in reply. The sentries Dick mentions are just barely visible from his current position behind the booth, but, yeah, that's a slingshot. There's definitely some eye-rolling going on behind Tim's domino mask. He pulls a shuriken from his belt and waits.
Once Batgirl's symbol in his HUD draws near enough, he flings it out towards the two men in far too revealing loincloths... and it goes sailing right past them. It ricochets off a metal railing with a noticeable *DING* and then off into the night. Attention sufficiently drawn, in Robin's opinion, he slinks back into the shadows and moves into flanking position.
The two guards turn suddenly in the direction of the shuriken and are promptly handled by the black clad silent predator in their midst. Both lay unconscious upon the dirt, their slingshots discarded and the bag of peddle ammunition spilt out all across the ground. 
Inwardly, Nightwing cannot help feeling a little sorry for these guys. They're just crazy. Dangerous sure, but in the end, just crazy. He also cannot help thinking that Batgirl is quite impressive. Quiet, but impressive. The former works out well for the Bat-family goals, though.. 
Still getting use to the new addition to his HUD, he verbalizes his orders by habit, even if his newest partner really doesn't fully understand him. 
"Batgirl, nuetralize the right most caveman-" He feels silly calling them that, "-then distraction for mine and Robin's approach." 
On her HUD is a bright red flesh over the intended 'target' then question marks at himself and Robin. Points for creativity. 
He moves quickly from bits of cover, throwing out pincer gripped wingding at the single light fixture to give them even more of an advantage when the small bit of light goes dark. One hand grabs the railing while he jumps, guading his body out into open air and down into a quick roll that brings him back to his feet in a straight dash for the center ring. 
Without distraction? He'll get slungshot? Is that how you say that? Slingshotted? Slingshat? Who knows. 
Anyone who has seen Batgirl and uses the expression 'hits like a girl', is obviously making a compliment. It doesn't even look like she's dodging their attempt to hit her. She was just never there in the first place and one hit each takes them down. The little black bat doesn't bother to watch them hit the ground, knowing they're out cold. 'Caveman' doesn't really translate but that's why there's the helpful targeting outline!
No questions or hesitation, she pushes into a sprint that leads into a leap. The flare of her cape snaps in the night wind and draws the poor guy's attention just in time for him to see stars and then blackness. 
Now a distraction? That's a bit harder than knocking out thugs. It takes more creative thinking, which she's still adjusting to. She palms some flashbangs and settles for the easy way of making some noise.
Too bad cavemen don't come equipped with masks that automatically filter out sudden increases in ambient light levels. Good for Robin, though, because as he darts out from the shadows, Batgirl's flashbang turns some heads and gives him the opportunity to knock one thug's feet out from underneath him with his staff before he delivers a stunning blow to the noggin' of another.
Literal stunning blow. Y'know, with electricity. Also another bad thing for the cavemen: they don't get cool toys.
"Called it," Robin says as he ducks underneath a hastily thrown punch. "Mansweat and fur. Ugh."
The optics in Nightwing's mask filter out the extra flash of light, but it leaves everything a temporarily flat green. To a novice, that might prove detrimental, but this isn't his first time to the rodeo and he rolls with it easily. 
Conversely, the cavemen are not accustomed to sudden bright lights once the 'lights' go out. Just as their eyes started to adjust they're hit with a blinging flash and anatomy says that really is horrible for a man's vision. They swing their clubs wildly and the poor hostages are also blinded, but they're purpose is to be the damsel in distress... 
"Oh sweet god..." Said as Nightwing back bends beneath a wild swing of one club and carries himself over his left palm in a kick that sends the weapon twirling up into the air like a baton toss. "You guys 'reak!'" 
Without ever coming back to his feet, his body turns on his palm and his other foot slaps across the same goons jaw. Momentum forward onto both hands, Nightwing swings his feet down like a gymnest on a pummel horse and knocks the man's legs out from underneath him. 
"Next time can you please be the 'showers regularly guyz?" How do you pronounce a z? Seriously, who knows. "Or maybe the herbal essence warriors? I'm just saying, hygene never hurt anybody..." 
There is no witty repartee from the Batgirl. With that faceless mask, you can't even really tell if she's doing a Frown of Doom at the levity. Of course, given how she seems to understand some things perfectly fine while other seemingly innocuous things totally goes over her head, maybe she doesn't even get it. Nor does she ever ask to try to get the joke, not even after the fight when it would be safe to do so. It's like having a Straight Man, except instead of being confused she just seems oblivious.
When Batgirl joins the fight, her targets might seem random to most. But keener eyes can see that the guy she just kicked back six feet into the wall, managing *not* to break his ribs, had just tripped over something and was about to fall on one of the hostages. The batarang that flies out across the entire area clips the wrist of the guy groping for another. 
You know what else that full face mask is good for? Filtering out the caveman funk.
It's pretty rank. Enough that Robin's usual "grim visage" thing he has going on (that he totally practiced in the mirror) is now mostly "nose wrinkled in disgust visage". Because, seriously. "Gonna puke," he mutters as he seamlessly twists out of the grasp of one caveman and right into another one. Who gets kicked in the junk. "Man, and I thought the Axe dudes at school were bad. Fuuu-"
His stomach does some flips as he rolls away from a giant man-sized club but Robin is fighting the good fight. Against his gag reflex. He slams the non-tazer end of his bo staff into one of the cavemen guarding the hostages and then shoves the really unfortunate teens down behind some cover.
One of them is wearing a literal gallon of Axe, and Robin verbally gags across the comms. "Nevermind."
Nightwing is forever on the move, that's half the weapons in his arsenal. He might not be the best fighter of all of them, but he's got talent when it comes to keeping mobile. Once his feet ar back beneath him, his left leg drops back and around with his body crouching sideways and one palm planting on the ground in the dirt. One of the guards managed to see enough to know they were being attacked and attempted to follow suit. That attack sails harmlessly over the quick 'Wing. 
It also provides for a pivot point. His weight shifts from his knees down to his wrist and both feet come up in a quick 'one two' straight kick combo. The second was powerful enough to shove the caveman back away and push Nightwing completely over into a low crouch. 
"It's like we're fighting a bunch of todlers in dirty diapers." 
Pushing up and back with his legs, the acrobatic bat hits a wall and springs off of it. It gives him more air to close the distance between himself and one of the remaining men trying to scramble for a weapon. Instead of actually hitting him, however, Nightwing sprays him down with purell. Sure, it's right in his face and yes, he probably does grab his head afterwards and slam his face down into an upcoming knee, but... "I did you a favor... rub that in once you get the feeling back in your toes.. you are ripe with bacteria, yo." 
The anti-bacterial-ing? of the thug actually does get Batgirl to pause, looking across the way as he lands briefly and her head tilting over to one side. The chatter she just kind of lets roll over her but the actions? That gets some interest, apparently. 
Her distraction doesn't seem to help the guy that swings his huge club at her with a mighty roar. Or maybe the club is swinging him, for all the control he's got over it. She just seems to casually lean to the side and he misses her by less than an inch before taking a fist to the face.
Did Robin just hear the telltale hiss of Purell? "I need some of that," Robin says as he swipes at another thug approaching the hostages. Nope. Not gonna happen. He tosses a few shuriken out and then confiscates one of those clubs.
"Where do they even find this stuff? Is there some sort of discount themed criminal warehouse somewhere that we don't know about? Because I'd feel like a failure as a detective if that were true."
Also definitely a failure as a Bat-person because he can't find the antibac in his belt. Oh. There it is. He sprays a caveman that runs at him with it and he starts rolling on the ground. "Whoops." Actually that was pepper spray.
The vast majority of the cavemen have been dealt with. There are still a few of them, mostly the ones smart enough to know they are severely outclassed by the three armored vigilantes. They start waving their hands screaming things like 'we surrender' and 'I don't know these guys, I swear'. Because that always works. 
Nightwing cracks his neck and glances around for Oscar, who as it turns out, is not amongst the downed or surrendering group. 
The quartet can just be seen heading in carting their upgraded arsenal. 
"We need a squad car at Amusement Mile. Let them know that there's about seven unconscious and three bound with five hostages." Pause, "Also tell them to wear hazmat suits... and lots of soap." 
Walking towards his two companions with his eyes turning across the area to try and find the ring leader of funk. 
Who is running like a T-rex is chasing him towards the exit. "Who wants it? I'm not touching him." 
Someday perhaps, Batgirl will be able to tell the others just what it was she 'hears' from her fellow vigilantes when she has the luxury of seeing them and is thus able to... well, not completely understand but at least *better* understand their meanings. While the words went over her head, now she can pick up the disdain and well, nausea on the parts of her comrades. There's a slight cock of her hip, and her hands move in the fluent spill of motion that is Batgirl's signing. 'Stay here, pretty boy. I'll handle the dirty work.' Of course it's only familiarity with her that gets that out of the jumbled mix of nouns and verbs that bleed one into the other. Then she's off. Tonight the part of the T-rex will be played by Cassandra Cain.
Robin's lagging behind. He stopped to zip-tie a few of the cavemen who looked like they may still be able to use their legs, and checked on the hostages before taking off after his compatriots. "Leo's on the way," he says, only slightly out of breath.
Hey, he's trying really hard to catch up!
"Pretty sure- I can- smell him from here."
Nightwing squints one eye at Batgirl's garbled word salad of sign language and ultimately nods, raising one hand out towards the retreating reak-leader (hehehe), "Be my guest." It frees him up to finish tying a few more of the cavemen, though he's not seeming to have as much trouble holding down his lunch as does Robin. 
In the distance there is a blue and red mixture of light headed in their direction signaling the eventual arrival of the GCPD, but for now, there's just watching Batgirl work. Not that Capt Caveman is going to put up much of a fight against her. He tries, but... 
He turns and swings throws a rock at her, scrambling through, over, and around booths. Sometimes falling, always looking like he's far more afraid of 'her' than he ever would be an actual dinosaur. "Get a-away! Seriously!" 
Fumbling and tossing his club her way. "I w-was j-just messin'..." Flop, doing a full body roll over the top of a fold out table the teens were using to house their alcohol. 
Nightwing turns towards them, "You shouldn't drink." Then glances back at Batgirl and Caveman with his arms crossed, "She'll crawl out from under your bed, if you drink." 
There's no jerky dodging from the thrown rock. It doesn't even look like she's dodging. In fact, to the careful eye she's started shifting position to get missed by the rock almost before he starts to throw.
While The Captain scrambles around, she flows over and around, using each hold and her momentum to close the gap. When she catches up with him really, she's doing him a favor and putting him out of his misery. It's also really, really good she's got filtered breathing going on. Hoo boy. 
As Captain Caveman lands with a meaty *thud*, it would really be overkill to knock him out. Instead she places one small booted foot on his head and leans in down close, her cape tickling along his arms as she speaks in her rough, unused voice. "Don't. Move." Blue and red lights paint eerie shapes against the smooth black of her featureless face as she waits for even a twitch.
Finally catching up- except there's a point that Robin reaches where he hits just... just a /wall/ of funk, and it's like being punched in the chest. He comes to a stumbling stop a few yards away and starts breathing through his mouth.
Except, oh god, it's IN HIS MOUTH. Batgirl's got this, right? He takes several steps back and gags a few more times behind his hand.
"Possible meta, proceed with caution," he says, communicator turned over to the police frequencies. Because there is no way that's /natural/. "I'm burning this suit when we get back."
The hostages just watch, some of them rubbing at their eyes, all of them covering their mouth and nose. What started out as just a few sweaty guys in bear skins has turned into a lot of sweaty guys all piled up in bear skins. It's pretty bad. Nightwing notices, but he's got his 'I'm cool, so this doesn't phase me' face on. 
Inside there's a twelve year old Boy Wonder crying. 
When Batgirl puts Captain down, 'Wing glances at the hostages and the blue lights bringing an eerie sort of glow to the area and grins. "Calvary has arrived." At which point he heads over towards compatriots, "We should probably go..." Breathing through his mouth helps, some. Not a lot.. just some. 
Batgirl's head tilts up, the rest of her body holding that bent-over pose, and she's eerily still for a long moment. Then finally she looks back down at the Captain under her foot before finally straightening. And taking her foot off of his face. Her cape falls forward as she straightens, draping her from neck to heels like some sort of bat-headed ghost. "Don't... make me find. You." The words are a bit stilted, and the boys can tell how much effort and concentration that it takes for such a simple sentance. She can take on a warehouse of trained thugs without breaking a sweat but talking? That pretty much takes all her focus to pull off. Finally she turns away, moving over to join the current- and former Boys Wonder.
"Yes. Yes, we should go." Robin is in total agreement. This is a plan he can get behind. Or rather in front of, because he's already speed-walking away at a brisk pace. His bike's parked in a shadowy corner a few blocks away and he has to hoof it there, still with that smell in his nose. After a moment, though, he does turn and look towards Batgirl. He knows how Dick got here, but not her. She mostly just... shows up. And he should really be used to it, considering, you know, Bruce, but sometimes she still manages to scare him. "Do you need a ride?" he signs. Partially so he doesn't have to open his mouth.
Nightwing glances at Batgirl standing there looking so much like a female Bruce it's startling... He's caught by it for a second, but then shakes his head out of the fog and nods to Robin. "Don't forget to take a shower." Snickering as he turns in the direction of his bike and starts off towards it at a dead run. They've gained enough favor with the police that they generally don't get chased anymore, but who really wants to test their luck with the GCPD? Never any telling who will show up and/or if they're in someone's pocket. 
Nightwing clambers up the side of the fence and throws himself over in a vaulting flip, rolling to his feet easily. Obstacles are lept over or slid beneath until he reaches his bike, dons his helmet, and tears off down the Gotham streets at speeds that well may suggest he expects to be chased. Even if he's not. 
Gotham Shore yo. 
There's that stillness again, as Batgirl stands there painted in the lights of the GCPD but that slight tilt of her head makes it obvious that while she might not have really paid attention to the chatter, she certainly saw Robin's question. She also sees the quieter, hidden things. Like that slight fear. Finally though she gives a small, shallow nod and walks over to follow him. One arm emerges from her cape, hand making the downward gesture from her mouth of 'thank you'. Then the other emerges as she signs, 'Better that I'm downwind. Or you might pass out.' 
Is she... making a joke?
The telltale rumble of a motorcycle means Nightwing's already gone, and Robin has a momentary feeling or irrational sibling jealousy at Dick beating him. Which then gets set aside, because this is not a race. It would be, if Tim hadn't offered to give Batgirl a ride back, which is good, because Dick is a terrible influence and he does not need to be racing through the Gotham streets at this time of night. He has /homework/.
"Decon showers for everybody once we get back to the cave," Tim suggests into the comm just so Nightwing will hear. It'll be a party. Maybe Alfred will make those finger sandwiches he makes.
He's already halfway on the Redbird when he pauses in a totally awkward position to stare at Batgirl. Was that a joke?!
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