13262/Lightly Violenced Fish Fillets

Lightly Violenced Fish Fillets
Date of Scene:	03 November 2022
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	A minor mishap in teleportation to test grapple lines in a location where you don't guano get stuck in the wrong place results in Austin Reese adopting an orange cat and learning about Phoebe's 'cheating' when it comes to getting around Gotham. Introducing: DORITO THE BATCAT
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Austin Reese

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Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Practice makes perfect. This was something drilled into her by her own sensei when she had started taking Aikido lessons, which graduated into a mixed martial arts practice, which then blossomed into sparring with some of Gotham's best and most deadly.

    There are times Phoebe misses her very 'serious zen' workouts with the assassins in the Outsiders, but it was nice to just go downstairs through an elevator hidden in a clock and practice with the light squeaking of a thousand bats.

    She's not sure what it was, but hey. It worked.

    Phoebe had been reading up on a few other martial arts styles, trying to decide what more she could pick up to aid in her own repetoire that didn't rely on Tim's staff training (or Laura and Cass's more deadly forms), and she was spinning a practice staff around lazily, warming up and stretching her legs.

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin had just finished up class at Gotham U and had made his way back to the manor. He had just intended to hit the gym, but figured he would poke around the cave first and see if anything was going on.

He was just wearing an underarmor short sleeve shirt and a pair of gym shorts, and had a towel hanging over his shoulder when he walked off the elevator and out into the cave proper, spotting Phoebe, "Hey!"

He jogs over to where she's at on the training mat, "That doesn't look like a real one so I'm guessing you're not planning on cracking any skulls. What's up? You looking for that sparring match we were talking about the other day?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Hey Oz." Phoebe gives Austin a grin as she switches legs, putting one heel up against the wall and leaning in.

    "Nah, not cracking any skulls at the moment. Tonight on patrol? Eh, solid maybe. Gotta swing by the beach and pick up my spectrometer and then see if Red Robin's got anything from the Pratt footage -- buuuuut if you're looking to have your butt kicked, I can certainly provide!" she gives a smile over to him.

Austin Reese has posed:
"I'm game." He says, as he sets his towel down on a bench nearby and starts to stretch a bit, "I know you've got a hell of a thing going with that staff, I've been thinking I need to get some kind of ranged...I dunno, launcher or something. Not quite as intense as what Harley had, but you know, something with a bit more oomph than a Batarang."

He takes off his shoes and steps onto the mat proper, after giving it an appropriate bow, and then moves over across from Phoebe, "Might have to talk to Tim about ideas."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "What? They don't loop you in on exploding or electrified batarangs?" she questions, and she strethes her back a little bit, rolling her neck and her shoulders.

    "I have throwing daggers. They're great in a pinch, not nearly as identifiable as batarangs, and I'm.. ah... slightly nearsighted." she gives a wry smile.

    "The domino makes up for it when I'm all out, but when you need a moment's notice --" she gives a bow, settles into a form, and then she dips in and makes the first move, cumming in low with the staff to try and take Austin's foot out from under him!

Austin Reese has posed:
"I mean I definitely can get my hands on those, been using them. Wish I'd had one against the spider pumpkins." He says, as he tilts his head a bit to stretch his neck. As soon as Phoebe moves into her form, he drops back into a defensive stance, and watches, waiting for movement.

As soon as he sees her try to sweep his foot with the staff, he shifts back, barely moving his foot out of the way before lashing back out at her with a kick from the foot she was trying to sweep, aiming to bring it around and land at her side before she can bring the staff back in to block.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's an elegant fighter and moves like water, she narrowly avoids the strike to her side by a armless cartwheel, aided in some height by the staff, and as she lands she brings the end of her staff around to return fire at Austin's side -- definitely pulling her blow, not as fast as it could have been. She's testing his defenses.

Austin Reese has posed:
There's a few different 'styles' that the Batfam folks tend to use. Some are more focused on agility and evasion, while Austin's style is more power than anything else. That usually requires armor, though. He wouldn't want to take that swing full on with his unguarded side, but he drops his left arm to block the strike with his forearm. A move that would have been protected if they were geared up.

Still now that he has the staff blocked with his left arm, despite the small, if still visible wince of pain from the hit, he swings his right arm around in a hook, aiming to hit Phoebe in the side of the left side of her head.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoeb tanks the hit to the head. There's a bit of a CRACK as he strikes, and she halts herself, and rolls with the punch, tucking and shoulder rolling to the side as she stretches her jaw, holding for a moment to recover.

    "Awwbh..." she mutters then stretches her jaw again.

    "Ooch."

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin shakes his hand a bit after landing solid contact, "Hey to be fair, that strike to my arm hurt like hell." He says, as he rubs that spot with his other hand, "I suppose I don't have a specific style to try to counter. Could be useful if it's against someone who's an expert in countering styles."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah... I kinda got used to sparring with people who also had healing abilities or literally can't feel pain." Phoebe replies, and then gives a small laugh. "I mean, if it hurts, I can take care of it? At least that way you're not bruised before patrols."

Austin Reese has posed:
"Nah I'm good. You can give me a patch up before we head out though." He says, with a bit of a grin, before he drops back into his stance, shifting his feet a little bit, "I'm going to try to throw you and I want you to counter it." He says to Phoebe, at least giving her a moment of heads up, before he rushes at her and tries to grab hold of her and give her a hip toss to the mat.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The young woman gives a nod, and she braces herself, narrowing her eyes at Austin as he charges her.

    She swings herself around, adjusting her weight as she tries to break Austin's momentumn, and shwings her legs down to try and get herself back on the ground, grabbing at his side and shoulder to flip him off her!

Austin Reese has posed:
The move to break his momentum is the best way to handle it, as Austin finds himself with Phoebe's legs in his gut as she rolls backwards and monkey flips him over onto his back, getting an ooof of surprise out of him.

"Damn. Nice counter." He says, laying there on the mat for a moment, "Was that just reaction"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That was twelve years of training in Aikido with guys who got bigger than me in seventh grade." Phoebe gives a smile, and she offers Austin a hand up.

    "It's taken a couple of people by surprise." she gives a smile to Austin, leaning over him so that her face is upside-down to his.

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin takes the offered hand, and then pulls himself up with her help, "Can't wait to see you use that one in a real fight." He says, with a bit of a laugh, "Any particular things you've been wanting to train in? Maybe we could set up some kind of scenario.."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The girl pulls her brother-in-arms up as she smiles, and she shrugs her shoulders.

    "Well, the thing about having been acting two years into it is that I've ran into a lot of things that training didn't account for... what about you? Anything you want to do? "

Austin Reese has posed:
"Hmm. Grapple training? Could work on that during patrol though." He hmms a little bit, as he sits on the mat and thinks a little bit, "Training is never going to be able to account for everything, unfortunately. No matter how prepared you are."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Nah, we could do some here." Phoebe states, and she hangs her arms over the stick, her eyebrows rising up.

    "I'm still learning on grapples. I'm nowhere near as good as Nightwing or Tim, but I manage to keep up with Tim for follow-the-leader." she jokes.

Austin Reese has posed:
"Well it is a big cave." Austin says, as he rolls back onto his back and then kips up onto his feet, "Well what do you say, shall we grapple around in the cave for some practice?" He wonders.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That all depends, Oz..."

    Phoebe points up to the roof of the batcave.

    "Have you had your rabies shot?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"Last I checked." Oz replies with a bit of a grin, "Hopefully we won't get bit though."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah, let's not get bitten by the bats." Phoebe remarks, looking up, and then she walks over to where her armor is standing, on display, ready to be worked into and then worn in defense of the city.

    She takes her bracers and her gloves, and she begins to put them on, leaning her training staff against the armor stand.

    "And try not to fall. It's a long drop."

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin follows over to where the suits are stored, and moves up to his own, taking a moment to look at his reflection in the glass before he opens the case, "Yeah I'd hate to have to explain that one. 'Hey we thought we'd practice with grapples and then we got impaled on stalagmites."

Austin puts on his own gauntlets, double checking them and hmming a little bit to himself, "So how do we want to do this, anyway? Just a simple point to point course?" He figures they could set up some AR markers and use the masks to track their course and progress.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Good news is I can probably fix you if that happens, but you'll have to take my patrol 'cause man that would wear me out." Phoebe replies, applying her domino and grabbing a hair wrap in navy blue, she wraps it around her hair to keep everything nicely in place.

"Bad news is that there's water and bat guano slurry at the bottom so you're probably going to also need the night off because, ew, grossness." she givles a bright smile to Austin.

    "Setting some points in the AR.

    ...

    "I could just portal us to someplace in the city to practice."

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin takes a quick look over the edge into the darkness below, and then walks back to his suit, "Yeah that's a better idea." He says, shaking his head a little bit as he finishes with the suit, and then puts his mask on and pulls up his hood, "I think there'll be a bit more room for error in the city."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I know just the place." Phoebe gives a smile, and she takes a deep breath.

    "How much do you trust me?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"Completely." Austin replies, as he reaches out one of his gauntleted hands to her, so she can do whatever she needs to.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "All right, let's see what we can do." Phoebe breathes out, she closes her eyes, and reaches to grab at Austin's hand as her magic circle, the same eight-pointed star beneath her, surrounding the two batlings in the cave -- and then they are gone.

    In lieu of being in the training area, Austin would find himself falling in a greenish twilight in a ruined building, dropping down an elevator shaft!

Austin Reese has posed:
That's an odd sensation, when gravity suddenly kicks back in when the ground isn't there anymore. It's jarring.

But it's fitting. That's how ospreys learn how to fly. They get thrown out of the nest.

He has to quickly grab the grapple off his belt, dropping down at least two stories as he turns around and orients himself right way up, firing his line at the top of the elevator shaft. At the same time he quickly looks around trying to spot Phoebe, and make sure she's okay.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is nowhere to be seen for the first minute, Austin falling for two stories and grappling, getting a good handle on his situation as his descent slows.

    Austin finds himself in an overgrown elevator shaft; there's rusted doors, no roof, the walls slick and green with moss and algae, and the occasional small plant that's begun to thrive here. Below him there is a yawning darkness, above there is the late afternoon sky in burnt orange.

Austin Reese has posed:
Once he finds himself slowing with the grapple, letting himself come to a stop dangling by his right arm immediately calls over the comms, <"Balm, check in."> He knows she's okay, but if she doesn't respond, then he knows she's got some kind of plan.

He pulls a small but bright glowstick out of his belt and cracks it, before dropping it down the shaft. That'll give him some idea of just how far up he is right now, "Well this is definitely not how I saw this training going." He starts to reel himself up, trying to look for somewhere to jump out of the elevator shaft.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Austin would feel the wind answer him after a moment, and the glow stick falls.... falls... for several stories, and then its, a distant spark at the bottom.

    There's whispering around him, and then a thump... THUMP... WHACK.

    And a vent gets opened, and something small and bright orange pops out of it, tumbling down from atop Austin!

Austin Reese has posed:
"Augh what the hell?!" Austin is absolutely caught off guard when the vent suddenly pops open and something tumbles down on top of him. He uses his free left hand to try to reach up and grab whoever or whatever it is that is bright and on top of him, "This better not be a spider for the third time in a week.." He mutters as he feels for the thing.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It is not a spider! Thankfully!

    It's a bright orange kitten that gives the softest little 'mrew?' sound as it's grabbed at, its paws tap=tapping against Austin's fingers.

    "Austin!" Phoebe's voices calls out, and then their dominos connect.

    <Oz, you all right man?>

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin holds the kitten up by the scruff, tilting his head a little bit, <"Yeah, Balm. I'm here. Just hanging around."> He tucks the cat safely into a pouch on his belt, and then reels himself further up into the elevator shaft, looking for some kind of floor indicator that isn't totally overgrown.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Mrrew?" the kitten inquires, batting at Austin's fingers again and then goes into the pouch.

    There's a metallic grinding on the seventh floor elevator exit, and Phoebe pushes it open. She's got a long cash on one arm that's well on its way to being healed. Must have had a rough landing.

    "So. I think there was a miscalculation when I portaled out of the cave." Phoebe explains, sounding slightly amused. "You all right?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"Yeah I'm okay." He says, as he looks down towards where Phoebe is. He cuts the line on the grapple and drops down, pushing off the back of the back of the elevator shaft and landing with a bit of a thump next to Balm, "I found a buddy." He says, as he pulls the cat back out of the pouch, then he finally sees her arm, "Oh shit, what happened?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Aww, hi there little guy! Os you made a friend!" Balm gives a grin, and makes plenty of room for Austin, and then she looks to her arm. She brushes it off a little.

    "Rough landing." she gives a wry smile. "Lucky me, I hit a door that was nailed shut and got scratched up to heck."

    The kitten mews happily.

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin gives the little guy a pat on the head, and then puts him more carefully in a different pouch, "So where are we? Looked like something out of a weird post-apocalyptic movie." He says, as he takes a moment to move his arms behind himself and stretch, after tucking away the grapple gun.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "This is the Old Gotham Hospital -- the top floors, anyway. About half the building was gutted by fire, but the walls are re-enforced. The place is practically a building built inside a fortress." Phoebe states, giving a couple of hops to land on some collapsed concrete overlooking a yawning, four-story chasm below.

    "But ah... with your special cargo, we might have to take turns hitting the AR beacons." she pauses, and looks over "You already hit the RL Beacon" she jokes.

Austin Reese has posed:
Osprey lets out a laugh, as he hops down and catches up to Balm, overlooking the yawning area, "Wow. You weren't kidding. This is much mroe open and gives us lots of room to practice."

"You want to go first then, while I keep an eye on this little guy?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Absolutely not, do you know how long it's been since I've babytalked a stray kitten? At LEAST two days." Balm gives a bright grin, and she turns her head forward, she marks out the points in the AR, and she brings out her grapple.

    Grapple one hits the wall, and she leaps off the yawning opening, swinging herself down. Her voice comes through with just a little bit of wind to it; Red Robin does good work.

    "One of the nice things about practicing in the cave is that there's no wind, but out here? There's wind coming through the windows. You have to adjust your headings on the fly! Of course ... *I* can cheat."

Austin Reese has posed:
"Oh you can cheat huh?" Osprey asks, as he takes a knee, watching over the ledge as he pets the little kitty a few times, wondering if he has any food that the cat could eat, <"Cats are carnivores only right? I doubt anything I've got on me would be good.">

Phoebe had better watch out as she swings, not only is the wind going to affect her, but there are many jagged pieces of steel that jut out from the rubble. Everything lays where itlanded the day of the fire.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <Correct. Cats are straight out carnivores, unlike dogs that can have some plant material and be okay, but cats are strictly meat-a-tarians. I know Robin keeps some tins of catfood for strays, and if not some raw fish or chicken, or goat milk?> Phoebe answers back, and she arcs up and through the air, her grapple releasing, contracting, and then she dives, turning her body around and extending another grapple, swinging herself back to the overhang where Austin was parked with the cat.

    "And yeah, I can cheat. I have wings."

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin baked up from the ledge so Phoebe would have plenty of room to land, and then gave her a grin, "Wings huh? I think I might have missed that development." He pulls the kitten out of the pouch, and presents him to her, "I still haven't come up with a name yet..Did this hospital have a name?" He wonders, waiting for her to take the kitten before moving out towards the ledge.

He hops off, and drops, before his line fires out and pulls him towards the first marker point. He swings through, and lands at point two. He's not following the exact same route Balm took, but it's roughly the same course, just a few tweaks here and there due to Austin's larger frame.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Just Gotham Hospital. USED to be the only show in town. It's been closed longer than I've been alive." Phoebe comments, and accepts the kitten, scritching along the rough of fur and Phoebe watches carefully as Austin takes off.

    She's ahd a bit more practice -- she's had grapples since her first full year in the Outsiders, and she still gets wobbly on some dismounts.

    "He's pretty good, isn't he little..." she pauses, and raises the kitten up to look at the tail end "-- guy. I think." she squints a moment, and she steps forward.

    <They were a gift. I have a tattoo on my back that lets me channel magic energy through it in order to form them. I still had to learn how to fly, that was quite a lesson.>

Austin Reese has posed:
Osprey wheels around, and then lands rough at one of the waypoints, "Ow. Shit." He grumbles a little over the comms, "Banged my knee on that pipe. Even with the pad that stings like hell."

Good or not, he doesn't have the years of experience that some of the others have.

A couple more waypoints later and he lands back on the platform with Balm and the kitten, favoring his left knee a bit, "I swear everybody's getting cool powers. Maybe I should get turned into a were-osprey or something. That would be cool right?" He could sure go for the healing factor being a zoanthrope would offer right now.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well you've got a lot of nerve endings in your knees." Phoebe replies, scritching on the kitchen again before she walks over to turn the orange fuzzball over to Osprey.

    "Well. I mean..." Phoebe begins, embarrassed, and she rubs the back of her neck.

    "... I had to give up a lot, Os, in order to learn how to use the powers. I'd trade some of them off for having a normal relationship with my adopted mom. Not flight though." she jokes.

    "So, do we have a Batcat?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"I didn't mean to sound insensitive, B." He replies, after getting serious, "I know you're trying to do what's best for everybody, even when it's not what's best for you. And that's what makes you, you know, you." He grins at her, before reaching down with a finger towards the cat.

"I mean I was kinda expecting the Batcat to be black, but I'm always up for smashing stereotypes." Austin replies, letting the cat play with his finger for a moment or two before he scoops him up, "So what are we going to name him, because he'll need a secret identity if he's going to be Batcat."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I know, Os. Sometimes people forget that for all the great stuff we get to do -- what we all get to do in this family -- there is a price that's paid. And the price doesn't never suck." Phoebe responds, and then she gives a smile at the cat, and tilts her head back.

    "I'm kinda on a Broadway binge at the moment, so all I can thing of is Alexanpurr Hamilcat."

Austin Reese has posed:
"Oh no, I have a feeling this one is going to need a name that's easy to yell when he jumps down on top of you from a book case or something." He says, with a laugh, "Caught him trying to jump off the 10th story AC vent in the elevator shaft. If I hadn't been there he'd have dropped the whole way down, and I don't think even landing on your feet from that height would be good."

He hmms a little bit, "But considering how bright orange he is, I'm thinking that we should call him Dorito."