13932/Out and About

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Out and About
Date of Scene: 22 January 2023
Location: Alley
Synopsis: Batgirl comes across a stray puma guy in the alleys of Gotham City. He likes pizza too!
Cast of Characters: Alderic, Barbara Gordon




Alderic has posed:
    It's been some time since there were any reports of wild animals loose in Gotham. Longer, still, than anyone has seen Alderic. Reports came in of a puma on the loose in the city, though it seemed to be keeping clear of the authorities well enough. With much of the city having gone to sleep in the late hours of the night - save for the usual criminal element that lurks about the dark cityscape - Alderic finds himself free to roam about. He's found his way into an alley, and there's a clatter of metal as he knocks over some trash bins. When you're living on the streets - or in the wilderness as he has been - you learn to find food anywhere it might be. The bestial man scrounges through one of the trashcans for what might suit him as a meal, half his body concealed by it as he claws open the bags and rummages through the scraps.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
It is arguable that a large percentage of Gotham are freely roaming 'wild animals', but in this instance, Alderic certainly does stand apart from most of them...

When out on patrol, Batgirl isn't alone. Not exactly anyway. Around her, wherever she is, all manner of high tech Bat-drones quietly zip through the air, swarms of them that she has programmed with her own smarts, training, and experience. The drones give Batgirl information of all manner of activity in the city, and help her know where she needs to be.

It is a quiet night, as it were, and thus when a word of a loose 'puma' comes to her from one of her drones, Batgirl is responding swiftly.

Alderic will 'feel' it most likely. His animal senses will 'feel' someone is watching him, and they're not far away now.

Should he stop what he's doing, and sweep around, his likely perceptive eyes will see her too. Standing atop a cement rise, beside one of the building walls in the alley, an armored woman stands, her cape swaying gently in the cold winter wind, along with fiery red hair that flows out to her right side. She's just watching him... but where did she even come from?

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic knew she was there before she was there, of course. He didn't react until he felt he had her attention, though, and that's when he pulls his head out of the trash can. His eyes reflect the light as he looks up at her, staring back at the armored woman for a moment - with a half-eaten slice of pizza hanging out of his mouth. There's a few moments where Alderic just watches the armored, caped woman. Looking closer, he definitely doesn't look like any ordinary puma. Sure, he resembles a cougar, but he's clearly humanoid. His behavior, though, is clearly animalistic. He looks like he's had a rough time the last few years, as well. His fur is barely clean, he has a few visible scratches from fights with other animals. He looks... not exactly 'dangerous' and more like a scared animal.

    Then, he turns and runs! Naturally, he assumed he was in some kind of danger, and he bolted down the alleyway in the direction away from the woman. He runs on his hands and feet, bounding like an animal out of the alleyway and across the street. He leaps over a car, springboarding off the hood and leaving a large dent behind. He disappears into the alley across the street, though Batgirl would have no trouble pursuing him. The cougar-man doesn't have a lot of experience defending against hi-tech gadgets, after all!

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"You're definitely not a escaped zoo animal..." Batgirl quietly says as the beastly thing starts to run off. She doesn't seem overly concerned, she just watches him for a moment while overhead a pair of her drones fly onward to keep up with him, but up high in the night time sky...

Swoosh. Batgirl is gone again now.

The street that Alderic runs across is mostly quiet at this hour, at this part of town, and he makes it to the next alley with ease. By the time he calms down and comes to a stop to look around again, things seem as they were before the armored figure had arrived.

His heart would beat in his chest, he'd feel perhaps a bit more relaxed.

And then, out of the dark, a set of bolo-type weapons spin toward the beast to try and wrap around his legs!

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic was good at escaping, and after a few minutes of fleeing down alleyways and between buildings, he thought he was in the clear. Just as he made another leap to get over another parked car, though, that bolo comes flying at him! He's not quick enough to react this time, and it tangles up his legs. He twists around mid-air and hits the ground with a thud on his side. He hisses and writhes about to get at his legs where they were tied, biting and pulling at the bolo cable to try to get it free from his legs! And what's worse, he dropped his pizza! It landed cheese-side down on the sidewalk, not that it was all that much better when he found it in the first place. His focus, though, is on trying to get himself untangled, and he's not a happy cougar!

Barbara Gordon has posed:
She arrives again. She just is 'there' atop another structure on the opposite wall from where the beastly man had fallen. She's crouched this time though, her cape around her as she watches him.

"Stop moving." Batgirl's voice comes out then, to try and talk to him.

"If you do not stop, I will activate the shockers. You'll be hit with a large amount of electricity." She warns him, partly to see if he'll comply, partly to see what his intentions here are...

While down like this, Alderic might even see the two bat-shaped drones flying overhead through this section of the alleyway.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to find out if you're going to hurt others." Batgirl warns again, her voice is very feminine, laced with only a minor amount of manipulation to the pitch to make it a little creepier in tone...

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic twists around as Batgirl appears again, pushing himself up with his hands and trying to at least partially get to his feet. He hisses at her, baring his fangs, and he tries to back away a bit. He can't move very well, not with his legs still tangled in the bolo. His ears are folded back, and his eyes are wide and alert. The fur on the back of his neck is on-end. He looks frightened, perhaps of what she might do or where she might taken him if he's caught. He hisses again, followed by that low, growling tone that cats make when they want someone to keep their distance. He doesn't respond with words - he might not even be able to speak, though it wouldn't be the first animal-person in Gotham who could if he did. For now though he's just hissing and growling, and keeping his distance from Batgirl. One thing she would note is that he's certainly not attacking her, and he doesn't seem like he's going to attack anyone at random. None of the reports of sightings include any injuries, either.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl just stares. She doesn't approach, she just watches him as he makes his low warning cat noises.

"Oracle." Batgirl finally says as she just crouches there with her cape, and fiery hair, swaying off to the south-facing side of her body, over her right shoulder. "Order a large pepperoni pizza from Gino's. Have it sent to my location. Have the delivery person be instructed to leave it on the window sil beside this alley at the laundromat."

After a second, and no audible response that Alderic would hear, Batgirl stands up again, her full form more visibly apparent in more light coming from the alley's mouth. Her armor is two toned, in black and gold, her armor looking top tier, though a bit warn in some places.

"That pizza is yours, if you tell me your name, and why you are here."

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic keeps his attention on Batgirl now, while she seems to talk to someone who isn't there. While she does, he continues to pull at the bola with his hands, though he's not chewing on it anymore. He doesn't like being bound up, and finally he pulls hard enough on them that the cable simply snaps. He's definitely not a weak creature, that's for certain. Straightening himself out, he seems like he's about to bolt again - but then Batgirl is offering him pizza. He hesitates, watching her intently, with deep consideration in those feline eyes.

    "Rraaowrr," he tells her. Clearly, he doesn't know -how- to speak, if he even can. All he can do is respond to her as a puma would. However, her offer seems to have gotten his attention, because the cougar-man has ceased trying to flee. Instead, he shuffles a little closer to her - still out of arm's reach - and tilts his head to show her the metal plate on the side of his collar. There, under the words 'Subject PCON-04' is the name 'Alderic'. That must be his name, or at least he thinks it is.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
When he breaks free of the bolos, Batgirl watches him rise up. She drops down off of that ledge she was on, to land upon her scuffed up armored boots. She just watches him with emerald green eyes from behind that eared-cowl she's wearing, and stares at that odd nametag that he is now inadvertantly showing off.

He can't talk. Great.

"You escaped from some place far worse than a Zoo, I'm guessing then..." Batgirl says in a more glum tone of voice. "You clearly need some kind of help, but I'm guessing you're not interested in any."

She takes a moment then before she reaches her right gloved hand up to her hip and after a second of moving fingers about her side, she produces a small 'puck' liked object. She takes a hesitant step toward him.

"I'm going to offer you this." She says. "It has a button on it, and if you push it, you'll signal me. If you need help, or food, keep this... and push it when you are wishing to grab my attention."

It's a tracker too. She is curious about this creature, but she doesn't feel he deserves to be contained if he's not actively hostile. But is he? Well, he's going to have her drones following him for a little while either way...

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic is still skittish, of course. It's been a long time since he's had contact with another person, and when Batgirl lands not too far from him, he looks like he might just run away again. His tail twitches and flicks behind him, and he's panting softly - probably from the brief run. He's still watching Batgirl though, and his ears perk a bit as she explains about the little tracking device she wants to give him. As she takes a step closer, Alderic hesitates again, but then he starts to crawl closer to her. When he's near enough, he stretches himself out to lean towards her. He sniffs curiously at the tracker, curious if it might be food perhaps. He's also getting a good idea of her scent as well - he could probably find her without a tracker, himself. Then, he bites down on the puck, snatching it away from her in his maw. He bounds a few paces away, before he hunches down and gnaws at it a bit. He fumbles with it, dropping the puck onto the ground, and he swats at it with a hand, sending it skittering across the street! He bounds after it, pouncing on it before batting it away again! ...Hopefully it's pretty durable.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
All of this is just watched by Batgirl. She stands there motionlessly observing him. A small frown does form on her exposed lips as she sees the display. "Oh dear." She finally mutters under her breath before she looks up at the two drones that make another pass overhead. "Oracle. check to see if any animal experimentation labs have been reporting any lost subjects in the past year, or so." She says with her eyes dropping back down to watch him.

"And make sure one of the drones is following this guy for at least the rest of the night, longer if they're able to keep track of him..."

Being that Gino's is literally two buildings down from here, a man comes trotting up to the laundromat and just sets the pizza box there. He looks around for a moment, before he spots Alderic and says 'Shit!' then turns and starts to run back toward the restaurant at full hoofing-it speeds!

Batgirl glances in the pizza boy's direction, then back toward the beastly figure. "Your dinner." She calls out to him then from the dark alleyway.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic's ears perk up at the word 'dinner', and his head lifts, with the tracker puck still in his maw. He drops it, though, when his eyes see the pizza delivery guy hauling ass back towards the restaurant. It's absolutely no trouble for Alderic to run him down - which he does - in a matter of seconds. "Rrroowrl!" The cougar tackles the poor man, the two of them tumbling across the sidewalk a moment while the pizza box goes sliding away. Thankfully, though, Alderic seems to understand which one of those is dinner and which isn't, because he's soon enough back up on his feet and pouncing on the box! He tears the cardboard away with his maw rather than opening it, and before long he's hunched over it while he eats hungrily. This is way better than trash can pizza, that's for sure!

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The pizza guy is back up on his feet and running for his life. Batgirl had thought she'd have to step in and break it up, but... it doesn't play out that way. She just exhales lightly, her chest rising and falling as she has doubts about this situation. "I don't have room for a cat." She answers a voice spoken directly in to her ear. "A cat man, right." She adds on to whomever she's talking to, as she watches him consume that pizza pie from out of the box.

"We'll track him tonight, and see where he goes. He might lead us back to wherever he came from." She says then before she just steps back in to the shadows of the alley some as some voices can be heard down the street, possibly coming closer. "If he's a trouble maker, we'll have to take him in to custody." She quietly states from a renewed level of shadow washing across her form.

Alderic has posed:
    Alderic seems content, for the moment, to focus his attention on a hot, fresh pizza. It's not his preferred meal, of course, but he got a taste for them from his time spent with a lady in a yellow jumpsuit. While he's distracted, it would be easy for Batgirl to attach a tracker to his collar - something smaller possibly - that he wouldn't end up swatting around like it was a toy. It's not going to take him very long to finish the pizza with how big the bits he's taking are. He's not even chewing it, really. He just gnaws off a chunk of it and then swallows. Of course, once he's done, Batgirl is likely gone, and Alderic is left to his own devices - at least he assumes so, when he doesn't notice the stealth drone overhead keeping track of his location.