13227/Urban Legends: The Old Hospital

Urban Legends: The Old Hospital
Date of Scene:	09 November 2022
Location:	The Old Gotham Hospital, Gotham City
Synopsis:	Visions go haywire, some are caught in their nightmares
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Austin Reese, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Hope Summers, Jason Todd

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The Old Gotham Hospital.

    A place that should have been torn down ages ago, a literal shell of brick and empty, partially gutted by fire and razed by floodwaters, the hospital was enveloped with chainlink and barbed wire and a variety of KEEP OUT and NO TRESSPASSING signs. Electrical no longer ran to the building, nor supposedly did it have water or sewer. Most of the glass was long gone from the windows, and the derelict hulk of a building had lain silent.

    Until last week.

    A few Urban Explorers had found proof of something big in the sewers. They hadn't disclosed just what they found, but the video had shown the remains of stray animals that had been fed upon. They were then chased out of the sewers and into an aquaduct by something scaley with glowing eyes. Their viewers were met with mixed reactions and accusations of sensationalism and reactions of ALLIGATORS IN GOTHAM'S SEWERS -- when those in the know could be more concerned about crocs...

        ...or Owls.

    Which is why Balm was fully armored tonight, with a backpack of supplies, checking over her gauntlets and making sure everything was secure.

    "So. Between possible Killer Croc, sewer cave-ins, asphyxiation by sewer gases, drowning, tetanus, exposure to diseases unknown to man due to it being in the Gotham City sewer system, ghosts, madmen, clowns, zombies, gangs, shingles, concussion via sudden head trauma by hitting heads on pipes and leeches, it should be *totally* safe." Balm states, her digital blue optics on her domino looking over the assembled team of crack fighters that she has the utmost trust in.

    ... while she's pulling up the manhole cover outside the fence. "No one's claustrphobic, right?"

Austin Reese has posed:
The sewers. Austin still has some bad memories about the LAST sewer mission they had to go on. But still, if Killer Croc was making a base under the old hospital, or if it was a monster or demon or some kind of alien invasion, it needed to be dealt with.

Still beats going to one of those charity galas.

Armored up with a special sealed suit this time, to make sure he doesn't get his boots full of sewer water...Again..Osprey taps his chin a little bit as he watches Balm open up that hatch, "I'll take point." Once the manhole cover has been fully moved out of the way, Osprey hops into the darkness, switching into night vision mode as he drops.

Tim Drake has posed:
    This is going to be a massive headache, Tim can feel it. Standing next to the fence, he observes the hospital from a distance with his arms folded over his chest and a grim frown on his face, one that is soon obscured by the rebreather he fits over his mouth and nose. Prior experience going after sewer monsters means he alread yknows the rebreather is absolutely a necessity, while the cape is very much not. Mostly it just tends to get waterlogged, so he's foregone that part of his kit in this instance.

    "I don't know about the rest of you, but my shots are up to date at least," he announces, the breathing device giving his voice a sort of tinny tone. Which really only enhances the sarcasm. He sighs quietly as Austin takes the lead, but then offers a quick two-fingered salute to the manhole-cover-holder (that'd be Phoebe) and leaps down into the darkness after.

    The resulting splash is echoed by a groan, and then, "I don't want to know what I just stepped in."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass is here too. Orphan, rather. Though she's as geared up as she really gets, having a hoodie and her armoured pants on, she doesn't look like she's exactly taking this super-serial.

She pauses, blowing a strand of her own hair out of her face, and then watches Austin duck into the manhole. She isn't really certain that he's good enough to 'take point' but if he wants to try, she isn't stepping up to stop him.

She'll just be there if folks get in trouble, really. Overwatch is a job too after all.

She pauses, scritching one of her teeth with a fingernail thoughtfully as folks slip into the sewers. Then she looks at Phoebe, her eyes concerned. You okay?

Who needs words?

Hope Summers has posed:
    Hope is roughly as talkative as usual, meaning none at all as she's on a mission. Parameters have been set, a goal and objective in mind, Hope is decked out in all the essentials a person could need for going into war in the sewers. A future based onesie that goes up to her neck. Yes it's water proof, but since it's going to be tight and dark, she's chosen to leave her already filthy cloak topside in the vehicles.

    Dropping in the manhole behind Tim and Cassandra, Hope simply gives Phoebe a knowing sort of look, or is that Hope's normal look? She's still working on not being so absent lately, but the issues with the stoned dude and girl has been weighing on the redhead's mind a lot lately and she's grown distant.

    Hair is tied up in not only a pony tail, but a tight bun, to keep it from getting filthier than needed.

    A splash as she drops off the ladder into the muck, and Hope looks to Tim, as she turns on a torch to light up the area and then dangles it from her shoulder, the look she gives Tim is asking if he wants her to take point or not? Gotta work as a team.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd watches over the others as they drop into the manhole. He pauses to give the area a final scan before turning back to the entrance.

"... come out to the coast.. have a few laughs.." he mutters at the stench coming up from the hole.

"No amount of shots can protect us from the smell" he observes as he climbs carefully down. He pauses enough to pull the manhole back over - a thing that isn't entirely easy for most. Those covers aren't light.

Once down, he looks around, his mask lenses softly glowing as he switches to amplify the lighting.

"So which. Way. To. Go?" Movie and game quotes. It's going to be one of those nights.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm gives a smile to Orphan, and before either one of them duck into the sewer she gives a gentle tap of her knuckles against Cass's shoulder before she hops into the sewer. She's OK. She's going to be fine. This is just your regular, every-day sewer crawl in the abandoned sewers under an abandoned wreck of a hospital.

    And Tim, everyone wants to know what you stepped in. The world is dying to know.

    JAson closes the cover overhead, bathing the world in dark, low lights and stink.

    Luckily it's mostly storm drain, but the pervasive smell of Old and Damp is all around them.

    Everyone with a Domino gets a map overlay. Otherwise a map's sent to handy dandy phones and handhelds.

    "I've marked where the urban explorers ran into the scaley, possibly zombie thing." Phoebe states, a point on the winding sewer map showing.

    "I've also designated a point in the bowels of the hospital that is accessable from three places on the map, in case we get separated."

    "The most likely thing that they ran into was probably nothing to worry about." she states. With no confidence.

    The water picks up its flow. Above, an autumn storm rumbles, rain pelting the pavement above their heads.

Austin Reese has posed:
"Didn't you have to fight Clayface in a sewer one time?" Austin asks after Tim lands, having stepped out of the way to ensure he wouldn't get landed upon, double checking the seal on the mask over his nose and mouth, voice being altered a bit by the breather.

"I'm not seeing any movement down here so far. Well outside of the movement you'd expect. Rats, bugs. That sort of thing." Austin says over local comms, as he moves further forward. He takes a moment to check the layout that they pulled of the sewers, "Where was that aqueduct they got run off to, anyway?" He asks aloud to himself, as he scans over the map in AR, as he glances over towards Jason, "Yippie-kai-yay, Mister Falcon." He has to get in a quote from the TV edit of 2. Because he always found it to be a hillariously stupid edit.

"It also could be long gone. If it was Croc, Austin figures he would have split as soon as he ran off the guys with phones. Then again, he did try to kill Batman with a big rock once, so he's not the sharpest knife in the sewer lair.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Maybe everyone else wants to know, but Tim would rather forget it entirely. So he lifts his leg out of the sewer water and gives his foot a little shake before stepping forward, away from the mystery gunk. "Welcome to the party, pal," he mutters to himself with distaste. Even being a Bat doesn't prepare you for diving into the sewers for the upteenth time. It never gets easier.

    Sloshing through the water, Tim scans the walls of the sewer tunnel around them for trace materials, scratch marks, you know... signs of a big beastie having been through recently. "Briefly," he confirms to Austin. "Led him out to an old smelting factory, easier to deal with him when he's been properly fired."

    Turning to Hope, he tips his head to the side and then makes a quick gesture towards the back of the group where Jason is closing them in, rather than the front, clearly wary of an ambush from behind. "I know we have a lot of area to cover, but I think it's best if we stick together as much as possible. At least until we have some idea of what we're dealing with."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass is standing to one side, where it's shallow. She isn't sayin a thing, isn't emitting a thing (no electronics!) and is barely even a presence. Her legs shed the sewer water almost as if the fabric had been treated for it. Which it has.

Noseplugs are making the scent a non-issue as well, and she looks as if this is a stroll through a tunnel rather than something disgusting. However, for all this her attention is firmly focused on her...are her eyes closed? They are, she's touching the wall with fingertips, eyes adjusting to the light and becoming more acute. She's listening, and listening hard. Not leaping into this, not without scouting. Like a bat, one might say.

Hope Summers has posed:
    Not one to understand any pop culture references, or really any references, Hope stays silent when the Bruce Willis quotes start flying more than ammo and information. She grunts her disapproval, not realizing how much like her dad she sounds. Especially when he had to deal with Wade. Thankfully no one hear would be able to call her out on it, so the habit slowly reinforces itself to be called out on later.

    Hope keeps the torch set to 'glow stick' hanging from her shoulder and she reaches out to draw one of her many 'close quarters' weapons, a basic enough handgun from the early 21st century with a supressor screwed onto the end. No need letting their location be known. A motion forwards, to Tim, Austin and Cassandra, that ear protection should be warn, she would motion to Jason, but that helmet better have that built in. She makes the motion to him anyways. To be safe.

    What would dad do? She keeps quiet and asks herself, checking her sixes, and oddly relying on her team more than Cable would have, but that's not something she'd expect him to blame her for. But who knows, maybe they'll meet in the afterlife because she had the balls to trust someone when he couldn't.

    A sharp nod is given to Tim as she agrees, the intel of what's down here is definitely more vital than anything else yet. Silent as well, allowing Cassie to do her thing, though she does reach up to her torch to dim the light to minimal, maybe a ten foot sphere around her, though mostly up front.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd takes a moment to study the overlay sent to his mask, quickly memorizing their location and the most direct path to their destination. Then the secondary route. It pays to be prepared. He learned that at least as a Robin.

He nods to the group, to Phoebe then to Hope as he draws his own weapon. Just one for now. It keeps a hand free to avoid falling into the vile water. No one would ever let him forget that.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That's what I'm hoping." Balm replies to Osprey, "That whatever it was moved on and isn't a danger to anyone. But after what happened at the Amusement Mile..." she trails off.

    Ten foot tall spiders with upside-down human heads.

    And then the team comes to a crossroads. Of a manner. The walls here are scratched up, pretty badly in fact. Some of the brick looks like it's ready to crumble away to nothing. It's probably fine. It's been standing for this long, right? Thunder gives another rumble overhead. Or was that a rumbling from deeper in the tunnels?

    Cass might feel something brush against the ear closest to the wall -- an errant spider web? Cobwebs in the sewer? Something far more sinister in action?

    Hope may feel a quiet breath against the back of her neck as she watches the rear. Jason might hear something distant. A familiar manic laughter -- or maybe it's just the flotsam and jetsam coming down here into the sewer.

    The group moves through the stinking water and crumbling brick infrastucture until they come upon something not on the map.

    An unexpected intersection, splitting off in three new directions.

    And the rumbling is felt now, along with the shifting of the ground beneath them, pitching slightly towards the left.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    AND DOWN COME THE BRICKS! Starting from the direction from whence they came, a shuddering collapse of the brickwork begins encroaching as the uncanny voice finishes its rhymes, casting all of our heroes briefly into rumbling, wet dark as a maw opens up beneath them!

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
And then a sing-song voice echoes around them:

    Travelers known by their knight, yet so many out of the Bat's sight -- tumble down into the dark, dismal future and scarlet lark! The son of law and hood of red, lack of father wishing dead, come play little children, here we stand -- on the cusp of nightmare land!

Austin Reese has posed:
Things seem to go fin, until they reach that intersection. Austin looks down one of the coridors, trying to pick which one might be their best option, "You think it's related?" He asks Balm. It would be the same MO, preying on some kind of urban myth.

That's when he hears the voice, "Nevermind, retracted." He says to Balm, quietly, as he tries to scan for the source of the voice. He never finds it, however, as the bricks start to fall. He barely has time to react before the floor drops out from under them.

This is the second time he has been near that hospital and ended up plummeting through darkness at the whims of gravity. At this rate he's either going to die there or demolish it himself. He quickly grabs his grapple gun, trying to find a spot to sink it into before they hit whatever the bottom of this is.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass is slightly disturbed by finding a spiderweb on her cheek. It's made more weird by the fact that she wasnt moving. At all. But it's hardly something that would make her have a panic...

Unless she was afraid of spiders in her hair. The asian girl's eyes shot open, brushing things away rather more quickly than absolutely required. But she's back, nearly at the entrance still, when the bricks start to fall. They fall from that location...

Which means she's the first to hit the ground, far below. She does what she does best, landing and taking in her surroundings for threats. But without knowing what's going on, she can't act save to land, safely.

Then hold absolutely completely still, hoping that she's stealthed. Or that whatever dropped them thinks that she's dead.

Hope Summers has posed:
    Hope gets that warm breath of nothing across the barely exposed part of her neck and she lifts a hand to brush at the hair she thinks she feels there and pauses when it's already tied tightly in a bun.

    Looking ahead towards Jason and the others, the time traveller frowns, but squints at the feelings and the fine hairs at the back of her neck now stand at attention. "Something's here..." She whispers.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Ear protection is standard kit for the Bats, so Hope gets flashed a quick thumbs up to confirm that it's all good on his end. If he feels any kind of way about her reaction to the pop culture stuff (which some might say is any Robin's bread and butter) he tables it. Certainly not a disagreement that needs to be aired during a mission. He pulls out his own weapon, but leaves his staff in its collapsed state, holding it at his side for the time being.

    Until they step out into the junction of sewer pipes, and Tim sees what he suspects are claw marks on the wall. "Signs of recent activity here," he points out as he scans them with his domino, video feed being saved off for later review. The rumbling starts up, and with a flick of his wrist Red Robin's signature staff extends to its full length, though given their surroundings its built-in tasers remain off for the time being. Most of their suits are probably insulted... but safety first.

    "Oh great," he mutters underneath the spooky sing-song, which has Tim spinning around to consult their immediate surroundings for a potential source. Which has him unfortunately facing the wrong way to see the water-logged ground begin to give out below them. So he tumbles downwards along with Cass, not enough time to try and get out of the way. Nearly not enough time to reach for his grapple gun, either, as while he does manage to fire off a line it connects with a wall so late that it only lessens his downward momentum slightly just before his feet hit the ground.

    Better on his knees than nothing, though, and he's able to remain standing post-landing. But he does grimace as the shock of the landing jarrs him a little bit. Whew.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd hears the sing-song. "Great. It's like Fuck Bottom, PA all over again. Only with more bad smell." Cassie might get his reference since she was there. Or not. Jason does tend to make esoteric references.

Then they're falling. He manages to reach his grapple before hitting bottom. It slows him enough to not be seriously hurt at least, but it's a hard landing.

Rising slowly, he looks around, "Everyone good?" he asks quietly as Hope declares they have a visitor.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
OSPREY:
    CRUNCH. Landing on bricks is hard for the knees. Landing on bones is probably worse.

    Brittle bones break beneath booted feet as the grapple catches and Austin is swung into the walls. Skulls grin out of the gloom at him. To his back there is a gaping open space, over a barren badlands. Wind whispers on wild and rotting wings, feathers broken and beaks scratched and pitted, dark balls of ebon where bright eyes that were long-seeing once were, cruelly curved claws tucked beneath empty bellies. Skin and patchy feathers cling to the aviforms as they slowly begin to wind their way towards Austin, giving creaking, hungry sounds.

HOPE

    Hope is still up in the tunnels, though some have collapsed around her, she was not consumed by the maw that had opened up leading into the inky darkness below.

    No. The darkness began to glow, with the warmth and heat of a thousand angry suns, first an orange, then red, then whitish as a voice, a Need, called out to her.

RED HOOD

    Remarkably, the darkness around Red Hood after the cave-in and his own fall opens up to a part of the old Undercity. Abandoned, derelict warehouse that someone had built a street nearly at level with the broken windows, showing a dimly lit inside.

    Every shard of glass showed the same chemical green hair, tall and slender man with stained gloves, the sound of a steel crowbar dragging along a concrete floor, and then raised overhead.

    It strikes the light above like a tin bell, and every swing of the light illuminates a different person in the chair, bound, blindfolded, gagged. Nightwing. Red Robin. Orphan. Batgirl. Oracle. Balm. Robin. Dick. Tim. Cass. Stephanie. Barbara. Phoebe. Damian.

    All around him cackles that awful laughter.

ORPHAN, RED ROBIN

    Sticks and stones may break some bones, but miraculously neither are seriously hurt from the fall, though knees are jarred and sides are bruised.

    Upon standing, they may see forms int he dim light of the patchy world above. There are people down here. Their heads are all bowed over the remains of small animals, alley cats and stray dogs, and they appear to be consuming them, tendons and muscle clinging between bloodied lips and hungry, jagged-toothed mouths.

    And then Red Robin may feel a cold wind behind him, the sound of bones grinding against bones before a raspy voice reeking of morning tequila whispers in his ear:

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
BUENOS DIAS FUCKBOY. comes a raspy, angry voice of a largely memed skeleton.

Austin Reese has posed:
Landing with a heavy crunch, Austin has to take a moment to check himself. He's not hurt..Well not any more hurt than he would think. That is until he realizes what he's landed in, and that nobody else is around, <"Balm, come in. Red Hood, Red Robin. Anybody?"> He calls over comms, as he looks around, trying to find where anyone is.

When he hears the flapping of wings, his attention turns towards the source spotting the undead birds flapping around. He frowns, <"If anyone's out there, please answer back."> He pulls a couple of throwing knives out of a pouch on his belt, getting ready to try to fend off the birds if they get too close.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass gets her feet beneath her, then looks around. She's dealt with horrible stuff before. It's almost a requirement; Bruce actually has some scenarios designed to test your mental endurance.

She and Tim are used to each other. She glances at him, making sure that HE'S okay. Then she nods, and moves left. Taking flanking position, and getting closer to the awful flesh-eating folks with the halitosis.

You know, probably. That can't be good for your breath.

Tim will do what he does best. She'll engage first, so if it's a bad, bad idea, the more important party member won't get hurt.

Also that way he gets Skeletor.

Tim Drake has posed:
    His shins are still protesting his landing, but Tim's on the move, first heading towards the figures in the distance and then after the first real glimpse of the figures, backwards. The nod he gives to Cass is reassuring mostly for himself, but it'll communicate the message all the same.

    Okay. Not great, maybe a little shaken, but okay to handle himself.

    Until he hears the slide of dry bones against each other and that whisper in his ear. The shriek that echoes off the subterranean walls is one Tim will never admit came from his throat. But a second later his voice comes across the comm-system with a "<<Reading you loud and clear, Osprey.>>"

    To his credit, he only sounds a little alarmed.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd spins around a few times, eyes wide inside his mask. His breathing has elevated. Somehow both guns are in his hands and he didn't even realize it. Every direction he looks he sees.. the same nightmare.

"...fuck. no.." He spins around again, aiming at what he sees as the Joker and fires off five rounds. Mercifully for anyone in the line of fire, they're taser rounds. At least they aren't lethal.

"NO!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    RED HOOD

    The nightmare gets worse. The rounds hit. They must have hit. They must have hit that figure out of his nightmares, but nothing happens. The laughter continues, the rain begins to fall harder around Jason.

    Dick, bloodied and bruised. Cass with her ears bleeding and cheeks cut. Lacerations across Phoebe's neck that just don't heal. Tim in a chair that's been knocked back and one leg broken off. Stephanie's blonde hair matted and burned.

    And everywhere, The Joker Laughs.

    And what of Phoebe?

    At the moment, Phoebe is standing in the middle of a perfectly intact pub in a low building in Hell's Kitchen, looking up at a tall blonde man that looks like a perfectly mail-order Fabio, being told she lost.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
OSPREY:
    <If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended, while you have but slumbered here while these birdies did appear -- all that you would see it seems, is just the mirror of your dreams.> a tinny voice replies. It has a distinctly posh Mid American accent, and sounds just like a certain white unicorn from a television series created for young girls with a distinctly Girl Power, friendship, magic theme.

    A Rarity in itself, the birds come closer, and then one SLAMS on the wall of skulls and bones beneath him, shedding more feathers and flesh off its wings, and it begins to crawl slowly up, its beak wide to try and nip at Austin's feet!

ORPHAN, RED ROBIN

    The hungry figures don't seem to be keen to engage at first, a couple grunt, shuffling around and growl to stop Red Robin from getting any closer, snarling and baring jagged teeth at him and Cass.

    Meanwhile, there is, indeed, a tall skeleton with a ridiculous fake mustache and a sombrero.

    "WHAT'S THE MATTER AMIGO... RATTLED?

Austin Reese has posed:
The birds remind Austin of the aftermath of the tsunami that caused No Man's Land. There were birds everywhere, picking at the bodies. They didn't know better, they're just birds. When one slams down into the pile of bones, but then keeps coming, Austin backs up a few steps from it.

This can't be real, he knows that much. But everything about it feels and smells real, "Back off!" He yells, as he kicks the zombie bird that's trying to nip at his armored boot. He takes a few deep breaths as he continues to watch the birds circling, "This is a dream. The weird creepy disembodied voice just said it was." He tries to focus on his breathing, like Batman taught him how to do, "Dreams can be controlled, they're just dreams.." Maybe he can imagine himself a door out of here.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra is one of the scariest people on the planet. Cassandra is very good at imposing her will on reality, when she has to. Cassandra is also not sure what the heck's going on, so has no direction. She reaches out, then slaps a dead baby kitty out of the hands of one of her opponents, depriving them of their lunch.

Honestly what else would she do? This seems real, so far. But the body language seems...

It seems so abnormal. They don't seem right. Her eyes look left, right. Left again. Then her stance dips from 'combat' to 'waiting'. Tim would see it happen. She's come to some conclusion here.

Tim Drake has posed:
    There's so much wrong about this. Whatever Cass is headed towards is wrong on an instinctual level, and Tim is torn between trying to analyze what he's looking at and trying to not think about it. And then there's a personification of a dumb meme that gets passed around on the Outsiders group chat.

    It's enough tonal dissonance that the human equivalent of a BSOD is chugging through all of Tim's processing power. Truly he is no thoughts head empty in this moment. At least until he hears the distant sound of gunshots and screaming, voices he recognizes. That prompts him to move, stepping forward to return to Cassandra's side even as he spins around, staff extended and pointed towards Senor Bonesalot threateningly. Silently telling this dumb Halloween decoration to stay OVER THERE.

    Then he tilts his head to look at Cass, trying to piece together whe she's already puzzled out. Which happens--well, not as quickly as it took her, but he gets there. Tim sighs as he collapses his staff. "<<This is all some sort of illusion. They're not real. Whatever you're seeing isn't a threat.>>"

Jason Todd has posed:
Yeah. A skeleton meme may not be a threat. But the Joker attacking the rest of the family, those Jason cares about but doesn't tend to admit he cares about?

That is pretty fuckin' real to him.

Memories, feelings all come flooding back from That Night. It is made worse because he is the one that isn't being attacked. He also isn't succeeding in any manner to -stop- said attacks.

Red Robin's comms message is heard but it sounds distant, as if down a long tunnel filled with echoes. Not real. not real. not..

But it sure seems pretty damned real in the moment.

Fight or flight has kicked in. It was the perfect storm. The fall then the nightmare visions. Jason has bought into it but now? He's not afraid of it, he's growing angry. Because that's what he does best.

Aiming with intent (and to anyone seeing him he's just aiming at some blank space and easily avoided) he begins to fire, emptying a clip.

But it doesn't stop the nightmarish vision.

Not real. It's starting to register within him. It's a twisted trick. He knows his aim is true. It has to be.. a joke.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
OSPREY:
    Yes, Austin, there IS a Santa Claus. He doesn't appear in the dream, but as the bird continues to crawl up the wall at him, he imagines himself a door.

    It's a red door, right above him, big enough for him and not for the bird trying to eat him. Should he climb into it, he's going to find himself right in the...

ORPHAN AND RED ROBIN

    They don't have feet. The one that's gotten his dinner robbed from him has hissed, but the jagged teeth are bits and pieces of straw. Just saying the nightmare is precisely what it is appears to rob the power from it as screams and gunshots ring out.

    Senor Bonesalot holds up his plastic hands. Danny Trejo's voice comes out of him as he states he'll be right here, no need to bone things up further. Obviously it's not humerus to give Tim a ribbing in such a way, it's not striking any funny bones. On the other hand, a red door has opened from Austin's side to Tim and Cass's

RED HOOD

    It has to be a cruel joke. A twisted nightmare. Nothing helps it. The laughter and visions continue, changing each time the light swings back and shows.

    <This is Balm. I'm all right -- Red Robin's right. They're nightmares. Something's picking up on the... I don't know how to describe it. The dregs of what we dream of. Trying to change it like chosing Stay Puft for the form of The Destroyer. Find the bits at the edge that don't match, try to pull it back. The bar isn't real. It doesn't exist anymore. You're not real, because you're in a bar that doesn't exist anymore.>

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin kicks the bird again before he turns and leaps up to the door, grabbing the top of it and swinging it open.

Over where Red Robin and Orphan are, there's a red door that appears out of nowhere, and then swings open, with Opsrey spilling out of it because it is upside down from his side.

They can get a glimpse of the zombie corvid that was chasing him for a moment before he slams the door, breathing heavily as he looks between the two heroes and the skeleton with the sombrero, "Uh. You know what, I'm sure that even with context I wouldn't get this. We need to get out of here."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass is just standing there. She has yet to really find anything to hit or choke out. So she's waiting for Austin and Tim to catch up. Bit worried for Jason though, he sounds kinda rough over comms. Phoebe's good. Probably with Hope somewhere, being awesome without us.

Tim Drake has posed:
    If not for the clearly terrible things happening to Jason, Austin, and potentially even Hope elsewhere, this would almost be comical. "I had a dream last week about trying to explain memes to Batman," is the context that Austin gets from Tim regardless, with a slow shake of his head. "<<Hood, whatever you're seeing,>>" and Tim can certainly hazard a guess, "<<It's not real. Someone or something is mining your brain for nightmare fuel.>>" He considers the door Austin's come through briefly, seems to put two and two together, and adds, "<<Just visualize a way back to us. Try a door, that seems to work.>>"

    Meanwhile Tim himself is doing the exact same thing, trying to picture a door in his mind's eye that will take him to Jason. If all the zombie imagery (and meme references) means it comes out as the "Don't Dead Open Inside" door from The Walking Dead, he'll just have to hope that Red Hood gets the reference.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd always knew it was a cruel joke, his murder. It was never -about- him. It was a prank of the worst sort on Batman. That the Joker could kill a Robin. It was just one the gags he pulled off to show he fucking could. To get under Batman's cowl. To try and goad him to kill, himself. If he had, then maybe other events may not have followed. But he didn't. And that is why Jason is so willing to kill, even if he has agreed not to. This time? He is ready to make an exception. Bruce's ethics be damned.

Red Hood steps up to one of the reflections even as Phoebe's words add to the others. Find the bits at the edge.

The reflections. They're not just wrong, they're fucking wrong. It's not the Joker. It's a trick. It really is a trick. The reflections are of himself. Just twisted to seem like the Joker. The others aren't right. Just close. Someone using his memories, his fears against him. And that? THAT makes him fucking angry.

He spins around and finds another bad reflection. He walks toward it slowly. His gun ends up aimed at Tim just as he 'arrives', though Jason does not realize it's him.

Jason is breathing heavy, on the verge of a full panic. But he stops. After a moment he speaks.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen - for my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great."

He blinks a few times behind his mask as he turns around as if seeing the sewers for the first time. He sees Red Robin standing right in front of him and immediately lowers his gun.

He finishes with the line that is so easy to forget.

".. You have no power over me."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The Joker stops laughing.

    The light stops swinging, and the rest of the glass shatters and falls around Jason, mixing in the rain, tinkling like silver bells.

    And everyone is standing back at the crossroads. The maw closed, the cave-in blocking only the way they had come, two people each in each pathway == Hope and Phoebe, Jason and Austin, and Tim and Cass. It was as if they never left -- minus Austin may pick a bone from his boot. And everyone is soaked through (except Cassandra's socks).

    And in the middle of them there is a rotund figure in a red jacket and a tall, uneven hat. His face is overly pale, his eyes red and bloodshot, his mouth a grimmace, cut cartoonishly into his face.

    Balm stumbles forward with a soft "N-no... you can't... you can't be here..."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
Alas, our play time's at an end, and to think I thought I had a friend! Your dreams are yours, your nightmares too, reflections of the thoughts of you. But time is short, and me you shall see when our world comes and meets the sea. So count your days, and count your nights, this reflection's terrifying frights. You thought me gone, but I will stand where the broken city meets the sand!> the Ringmaster rhymes.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And with a bow, he sweeps his hat off his head to show where he had been previously pierced with heavy rounds, stitched and leaking sawdust.

    The Ringmaster had returned for an encore performance -- if he even ever left.

    And the Knighthood are left with cold water from the rain above wrapping around their ankles.

Austin Reese has posed:
The first thing that really registers is cold, as the dream walls finally fall down around him. It's a bit jarring, but Austin finds himself freezing, as he realizes they're back in the sewers that they probably never left.

Behind him is a voice, one he recognizes, if only from one previous encounter. He frowns, and turns around fully to see the Ringmaster. Last time he ran into this guy he had to fight a merry-go-round horse. This time, he intends to at least try to fight the Ringmaster himself. Despite knowing it's probably not going to work, he takes the knife he had in his hand and flings it at the Ringmaster.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass isn't doing that.

No, she's checking on the team. It mostly is just looking at each of them, taking note of their pulse and the look in their eyes, but there's enough light (somehow) to see the Ringmaster, there's enough light to see her teammates.

Well, Jason looks like a red mask, but his posture is a bit upset.

She flips a half-eaten rat's ass at the Ringmaster, expressing her opinion in her own unique fashion. The others will hit him she's certain.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Well, it was a good idea. Ultimately unnecessary in the face of Jason's impeccable leveraging of an iconic scene from a cult classic film, that Tim will be impressed about later when they're not still stuck in the sewers. For now, he wheels on the source of the creepy poetry recitation; Austin throws a knife, but from Tim his first reaction is an electrified shuriken.

    His thinking goes this way: if the guy is tasered and out cold, he probably can't rifle through their subconscious minds for any further nightmare fuel.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks around, slowly relaxing. Even as the Ringmaster taunts them. ".... got a crowbar and a clip of ammo I'm gonna shove right up ..." he mutters and trails off as the being disappears.

He doesn't act like he just pulled a Sarah and kicked Jareth in the nuts. Proverbially at least.

He looks toward the others, then lastly to Phoebe. "... we still have things to shoot? I'm good to shoot them if we do."