14096/Go Tell It

Go Tell It
Date of Scene:	10 February 2023
Location:	Robbinsville - Bleake Island
Synopsis:	Me? He laughs. Yeah can you imagine anyone wanting to listen to me being in charge? That'd be the Hindenberg and Titanic all over again.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Jason Todd

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The baby bat had been out on patrol, having opted to take on an additional solo run on her own through the Robbinsville neighborhoods, traversing between wrecked mansions and housing projects after a brief of her being on the news in New York City had come out. Balm's been a Busy Girl, but at least tonight she's not getting shot at without her armor on.

    Which makes it a bit less difficult because she's currently pinned down under fire.

    <I don't suppose anyone's around the Robbinsville Aztec Street access?> she asks into the coms, behind the remains of a wall as she peers around the corner, the sound of automatic weapon fire splitting the ancient estate.

    <I've got some guys who are juuuuust too far away to smokescreen.>

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd has not been in the media in any city lately, probably to no one's surprise. Though there was that drug house raid in Hell's Kitchen a week and a half ago. But were any of those pictures made public? That would probably depend on one Jessica Jones. But rumors that Red Hood was in NYC probably circulate.

Tonight, however, the hell is just the bitter cold of winter in Gotham. The radio message is heard while Red Hood is tracking down a lead related to that drug bust a few weeks ago.

<Currently heading the other direction but I can be there is six minutes. Anyone else closer?> Red Hood's voice is calm and quiet as he replies.

That there is otherwise radio silence, he follows up, <I'm enroute, Balm.>

Maybe he miscalculated how far away he was. Or maybe he overstated his time on site. What is clear is that it took him just under five minutes to arrive.

The angry rumble of Red Hood's car comes in to range.

<Keep your head down for another second.>

Hurtling across the intersection, the matte black Mach 1 locks up the brakes at the last minute and skids to a stop perpendicular to the volley of gunfire, placing the car as a barricade halfway between Balm's location and the guys begging to get their asses kicked.

<Okay. Now you've got some proper cover. Want to go say hi to your friends?> His tone is still casual as he opens the driver's door and eases out into a crouch beside his car. The sparks and zings of bullets bouncing and ricocheting off the armor certainly looks and sounds impressive but isn't doing a lot of damage to the car. Yet.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    CRACK. The bullets were making her cover ever smaller, and she was already on The Bat's bad side for a blow up, she seemed more reluctant to use magic than ever on the beat.

    <Think others are out of range. I'll think of something. Always do.> Balm replies, ducking down a little lower as she counts wht she has in her backpack. A partial smokescreen was better than none at all, she was deciding, before the warning to keep ehr head down and she can hear the rumble of the Mach 1 coming in closer.

    She shoulder-rolls out of cover, and she looks over to Red Hood with a slight smile on her lips as she extends her staff, and gives a shrug.

    "Well, I mean, it's only polite, right?" she asks, breathes out, and then a the gunfire stops, looking at the car in mixed curiosity and dread as the goons try to decide if they've worn the brown pants today or not.

    She gives a nod to Red Hood, and then she springs up over the hood of the car and slings a line of smoke pellets!

    <Sorry to pull you from your stuff. Having a good night?>

Jason Todd has posed:
"Well. You know the family doesn't like to be rude. We're the welcome wagon to the city after all. C'mon. I bet they just took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and they're really nice. Just misunderstood."

As she draws near and prepares to go over the hood, his pistols are in hand and he spins to his left, coming up over the trunk to lay down a volley of covering fire to let Balm close to skull smacking range.

"It's fine. It was a boring bit of investigative research anyway. Who really likes to drive to Bludhaven anyway? Other than Nightwing."

"What'd these guys do to earn your displeasure anyway? And how hard should I go on them?"

That's a first. Red Hood is asking?

Considering the next volley of taser shots hits one of the gunmen in the groin, one wonders how gently he's inclined to take this.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Nightwing drives?" Balm takes a crack at the 'older brother', and she goes in low. The guy hit in the groin goes down with a pained yelp -- some guys just haven't learned to wear cups.

    It would waste so much more time if they did though.

    "Stumbled upon me doing some investigating of a possible low-range seller with ties to the mob. Has a little sibling, wanna try and get him outta a bad situation. You know I'm a bleeding heart." Balm replies through the smoke. Another guy yelps as a grapple takes him up, making his gun go off before he loses it and it drops to the ground and he dangles from an arch of the old, ruined mansion.

    "And they *were* just trying to kill me."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd says, "Well you know Little Boy Blue. When he's working he drives. I think. Unless he's resorted to You-ber." Totally mispronounced on purpose.

As Balm reaches her combat range, he steps out from behind the Mach 1, pistols akimbo as he calmly walks toward the gunmen. He's staggered the shots so that only one pistol empties at a time and he can alternate ejecting spent clips and swinging the weapon behind his back to slot home a new clip from the custom rig on his belt. It means the volley of fire is constant if sometimes only half as heavy. He's using it to keep them distracted for Balm to get in and finish off.

"No to the bleeding. We don't like bleeding. Bleeding is bad."

Then she points out they were trying to kill her. "Well that is unacceptable I agree. And rude." So he shoots another in the ass as the gunman tries to pivot to attack Balm. Three taser rounds unleash electrical hell into his left cheek.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    That cheek's never gonna feel the same. Not to mention have a smokey ham-like smell.

    Eeew.

    "Wait I thought LIttle Boy Blue was Superman? ... or Superboy? ... One of them?"

    Between her questions she's swept one guy off his feet with her staff, knocked his gun out of his hands with a follow-through, and then bring her heel down on his chest to knock the breath out of him before he's shoved to the side.

    "Bleeding's bad yeah -- but he's scared if he doesn't do what the mob says they'll off his remaining family. Y'know how I feel about that."

Jason Todd has posed:
That wasn't a thought bubble this issue needed to include. Blame the editor later.

"Superman? Have you seen how big that dude is?" And it's more fun to joke about Nightwing being the good Boy Scout.

At this point Red Hood has closed in to point blank. Now that Balm has taken down most of them, Red Hood feels no shame in stepping in to slam the butt of his pistol into the back of the head of a gunman who thought he could still take the chance to shoot Balm while she is taking down his foolish companions. "Hey. You do that I'm going to be more than pissed. I'm already pissed you thought you could try it." A series of physical blows from his guns follow, leaving the guy on the ground, down and out. So Red Hood shoots a taser round into his stomach. It's the principle of the thing.

"Well. I'm here to help run interference. Do what you need to."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    THUCK. The guy goes down, and the physical blows from being pistol-whipped, beaten by the butt of Todd's guns as the guy decides that mysteriously, it is now time for bed.

    The gun drops down with a single blast from its janky controls, and the guy gives a purely reactive cry out as he's tasered in the stomach.

    "Eh, no good. This wasn't his crowd. Bunch of white guys calling themselves the Aztecs after the street. They aren't history majors." she remarks as she grabs out some cuffs.

    "I'll just call the other boys in blue and get them off the street for tonight."

    Pausing a moment, she looks over to Red Hood.

    "Why *do* so many superheroes wear blue? Is it the calming color?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood looks around as the last of the gunmen goes down at Balm's hand.

"Good work."

Then he looks curious, "So these weren't part of the guys giving your boy trouble?" He pauses. "I think I lost the plot somewhere a half dozen clip swaps back then." He shrugs and moves to help. No cuffs for him, it's all zip ties because they save so much space. And having metal thread reinforcing them, they can't just be snapped off like those online videos claim. Many criminal wrists have been injured from trying to be sure.

"Not sure. I guess in the right country it would be patriotic. Or something."

Rising up after the last one is detained, he adds, "I like red better."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "/Never/ would have guessed." Balm comments, and she shakes her head. "No. Just happened to find a girl in a get-up trying to investigate a hit off a business card I gave him. Trying to get him to divulge information. The alter-ego's a lot easier to talk to than a lady in a domino. Apparently I'm a little intimidating." she states, snapping her cuffs into place as she draws herself back up to a stand, and then looks over to Red Hood.

    "Not as much as you though." she jokes, "You're scary. Glad you're on our side." she states with a grin, and then gets an alert on her domino.

    "Police are three out. You gonna catch up with your investigation?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood shrugs. "Guess that's all perspective." Who is easier to talk to or more intimindating. "Maybe that's my problem. I need to show up as a girl instead of myself to get the assholes to talk to me." The sarcasm is strong in that comment.

"I'm only scary because I'm an asshole who doesn't stick to cover in a gun fight. Maybe I should get some slow match fuse and hang it from my mask like Black Beard did. That'd be pretty dope" he considers. And no little be of extra batshit crazy.

"I think I'm done for tonight. The cold is giving my shoulder some extra shit tonight. And I really didn't want to drive to Bludhaven anyway."

Holstering his guns he glances around then to Balm, "Anywhere you need or want to be? I hear the Red Hood driver's service is a lot cheaper and more reliable than You-ber." Again with the intentional mispronounciation.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Trust me you show up as a girl and you're gonna get *all* the wrong assholes. And belay the match fuse, matey, you'll get all sorts of shit about the *short* fuse." Balm comments as she steps up closer. "Dunno, there's a killer bagel shop that's open twenty-four-seven in Bludhaven, but I think I'm wrapping up tonight's search for Jake the Social Butterfly."

    She does give a slight grin. "Will trade shoulder rub for a warm ride?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd walks back to his car, not even sparing a glance to the passenger side to see if the bullets did any damage. Stepping around to the driver's side, he comments easily, "I _have_ a short fuse. Using slow match would just give justification for others to throw the fact at me all the time." Why not own it?

"I don't care how good the bagels are, I'm not driving to Bludhaven tonight. I'd sooner go to Dunker'd Donuts and get some of their previously frozen donuts or bagels. And their stuff tastes terrible" he notes with a quiet snort.

He glances over, "No fee for a warm right, kiddo. Just tell me where you want dropped off."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Until someone says it one too many times. I dunno, maybe I just have the limited bull-pucky bandwidth these days?" Phoebe considers.

    "I'm not making you drive to Bludhaven. If you drop me off near the Cauldron neighborhood I can portal back to Bristol--"

    Phoebe does check the passenger side, pausing to try and pick up the scent of gasoline before she goes to open the door and get in.

    "Unless you wanna hit up the Cave for some baked goods or hummus."

Jason Todd has posed:
The car is actually just fine. Apparently he's made enough armor upgrades to give it the means to weather assault rife fire from would be gangs who dare to take shots at it. Even the paint seems intact.

"People have said it too many times. That's part of why I have a short temper. It's self fulfilling."

The engine roars to life and he flicks the headlights on. Not bothering to buckle in, he backs away from the scene easily before accelerating quickly to put some distance between the car and the scene of the shootout before GCPD arrives to bat cleanup.

"I'm not one to turn down baked goods. I'm just too lazy to go very far to get them. Cave's closer. But I can still give you a ride to Bristol if you want." It's not Bludhaven and she's not some asshole drug dealer. He's happier to do a favor as it were.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Your Cave is closer. The Cave's in Bristol." PHoebe points out as she leans back in the seat. She *does* clip in, if only out of habit and then removes her mask to rub at her nose a bit, pulling down her hood.

    She looks over to Jason, and gives a slight grin.

    "Thanks for the bailout, Jay."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd shrugs, "I don't care if it's in DC. It's not Bludhaven." And he didn't get which cave she was talking about. "Plus mind definitely does not have any baked goods or hummus." So.

A nod, "You don't need to thank me, Phoebe. It's what we do." Even if there is a hint of conviction lacking in his voice, he's trying to make himself believe it. Some do it at least.

"You did the hard work anyway. I just gave you some help getting clear to advance on them." He only dropped three of the guys himself. The majority were hers.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You saved my ass. I'm trying to be the good girl. I could have popped my shields and made my approach, but then I would have heard the disappointing silence from Batman." she breathes out, and turns to face Jason.

    "Been thinking of changing up the costume while I'm working in Gotham. To differentiate me from what SHIELD's seen from New York, y'know? It'll need a new designation."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd lets out an impatient sigh. "When are you going to realize that what HE wants only works in his mind?" He glances over, still as Red Hood. The tone is totally the Hood who still has issues with Batman.

"He makes rules no one can fucking live up to. Hell HE doesn't even live up to half of them" he snaps in annoyance.

Turning another corner Red Hood steers the car through an alley. Once the rear bumper disappears into the narrow space, he flips a switch on the steering wheel.

The whole dash shifts from looking like the inside of the Batmobile with its own myriad of displays and switches to looking like a vintage '69 Mustang Mach 1 dash with some deft rotations of the dash panel. Outside, the blood red metallic chromed rims shift to silver chrome and the black matte paint ripples to become the candy apple red metallic of the Mach 1 that Jason Todd owns and is seen driving around Gotham.

At the same time, he lets go of the wheel and the car drives itself as he reaches up to unfasten and remove his armored mask which he sets into the center console under his right elbow.

As the car emerges out the other end of the alley, he slows down a bit though he's still speeding.

"You have abilities. You need to use them not suppress them because Bruce disapproves. He doesn't make Zatanna not use magic. Or Diana not use her strength and speed. Or Clark his heat vision. It's beyond hypocritical."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "-- that's not fair to compare me to Zee, or Diana, or Clark. I'm not like them. They're all..." Phoebe points out, and she fiddles with her domino a little bit before she grabs a sweatshirt from her pack and pulls it on to partially hide her armor, not finishing her thought.

    "Maybe if you form your own posse, invite me in and I'll magic the fuck up." she states, mostly as a joke. "Everything's fun and games until the sorcerer casts Fireball in an enclosed space."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks over at Phoebe. "That's exactly the point, Phoebe. You are your own person. Him telling you you can't use part of who you are because it doesn't fit his narative?" He snorts, sneering in frustration. "He doesn't judge them. But he should if he's going to judge you. That's my point. He can't have it both ways and that's what he wants." His way or the highway.

"Me?" He laughs. "Yeah can you imagine anyone wanting to listen to me being in charge? That'd be the Hindenberg and Titanic all over again."

"If the time comes that the right answer is fireball, even if we're in a small room? I expect you to use the fireball." He's serious. "Sometimes you have to shoot the hostage to save them." And there's the Speed movie reference.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "He doesn't judge me. He's worried about me and my self-destructive tendencies and how it affects everyone who cares about me within a fifty mile radius of the tri-city area. He wanted me to have the stability and safety and -- why am I rehashing the argument I have with him every couple weeks?" she questions, and then she just leans her head back.

    "I would probably consider murder for a donut right now."