15519/Busted in Burnley

Busted in Burnley
Date of Scene:	01 August 2023
Location:	Burnley - Bleake Island
Synopsis:	During a routine patrol in Gotham, Red Robin encounters Beroe and her questions. He answers some of them, takes down a guy with a gun, and leaves her with an emergency beacon should she ever return to Gotham. No selfies please, though!
Cast of Characters:	Tim Drake, Beroe Kazinski

---

Tim Drake has posed:
    It's the evening-time, past dusk but not yet hitting curfew for most of the younger citizens of Gotham, and that means it's the very start of patrol-time for the Bats.

    One Bat in particular, at least. Standing on the edge of the Beet Street Arcade, he's silhouetted against the night sky by the bright neon lights of the business's signage, cape flaring in the wind. People are still out on the street, small crowds of them here and there, oblivious to their careful watcher up above.

    Down one alley, the loud clang of a garbage can falling sounds, and Red Robin twists on his perch to look in that direction. But only seconds later a couple of stray dogs come running out of the alleyway, and slink through a torn hole in the fence surrounding the long-abandoned Ace Chemical Processing Plant. Tim's eyes track their movement until they disappear, before he turns to survey the people down below again, dropping down into a crouch on the building's edge as he does so.

    He won't stay for much longer. There's too much of the city to cover, and a long night ahead. But for now he is poised to strike if need be, a vigilant guardian in the shadows overlooking them all.

    Of course it's not that serious. While he scans the streets he's also sending an increasingly absurd amount of emojis in a group chat with a few of his siblings in response to a discussion about some trivial nothing topic. Thankfully, Tim is an excellent multitasker.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
"Thank you all for joining me this evening. I headed out to Gotham earlier and picked up this fantastic smoothie." Beroe is holding her phone with one hand, the selfie camera going, and in her other hand she holds up a cup with a blended strawberry looking drink, cause it's pink. "This is from a Gotham original, Crazy Twisters. I got the Strawberry Acai twister, well priced, friendly customer service, it was great! Plus, they gave me this great tip to avoid the Ace Chemical Processing Plant because there's been some rumblings around there." She beams, "So guess where I am?"

Bringing the phone further from her a bit, it gets a wider view, and she starts to spin the camera around to get a good view of the plant. "I figured, there's got to be SOME crime happening around here, or maybe, some people I can help. Either way, it would make a good trip. I AM hoping to meet Batgirl or Batman, or The Joker, ooooOOh, wouldn't that be cool? Amazing! He's got great hair, I'll give him that, but any member of the Bat entourage would work for me. If I get some pics, I'll upload them here! For now, I gotta keep my eyes..." She then points up to her faux fox ears, "And my vegan faux cruelty free fox ears sent my way by CuteGothShop69. Hashtag and link in the post. Thanks Sheryl, they are perfect!" Practically squealing that last line out, as she's been walking oblivious to her surroundings, focused on her phone entirely.

There is the sound of dogs behind her though, and it's probably quite audible for anyone nearby to hear a, "Puppies!" Squeal, along with all the other loud chipper noises Beroe has been making this entire time. It probably stands out not just in volume, but tone, no malcontent here, just chipper happy tones!

Tim Drake has posed:
    There's nothing much going on down there right now. A couple clearly at the ends of a date outside a cafe, but neither one wanting to leave just yet. A group of kids playing some kind of game on a stoop, out of sunlight but using their phones to see the board. A girl with a pink drink, streaming from her phone. An older gentleman out for a brisk walk.

    The sounds of it all filter up to Red Robin's perch, and he cracks the tiniest smile, because these are the sounds he likes to associate with Gotham. Not Joker's laughter, or the hiss of Scarecrow fear toxin escaping from gas canisters, or the ominous sound of Mr. Freeze's ice ray gun spooling up. Happy sounds. The sounds of people living their lives, unperturbed by crime and misfortune.

    And of course, because he dared to think those thoughts, the sound of gunfire echoes out from the old Ace Chemical Processing Plant. The two stray dogs, yelping, come running back out, followed by a man waving a pistol erratically.

    "Yeah that's right ya mangy mutts!" he yells.

    The pop-hiss of decompressing air precedes Red Robin's appearance, boots first as he's pulled along a grapple line in a straight course for the man's chest. Down they both go, and Red Robin is briefly caught in a struggle for the gun, but he gets it free from the man's deathgrip after a few tense seconds.

    "Who shoots at dogs?" he asks, incredulously, while the man struggles beneath him.

    There's a muffled "Gedda hell offa me!" but Red Robin rears back and punches the guy hard right to the kisser, and he's out like a light. Juuuuust long enough for Tim to tie him up with a couple zipties from his belt.

    In the meantime the street has totally cleared of people; the couple has ducked back inside the cafe, while the board game sits abandoned on the stoop, and the old man has hidden behind some bushes and a newspaper stand, shivering with fear.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
Gunshots? But where? Beroe is still a bit bent over, her hands on her thighs, looking for the puppies she heard and then there's gun shots disturbing it all. And then she's walking back toward the hole in the fence she squeezed through to get into the processing plant when - swooping in a person attacks an old man.

At first she's smiling, then her face scrunches up some and she says to herself, "Alright, there's a person attacking an old man, let's get him!" And she starts jogging toward where Red Robin kicked the man right in the chest and started to zip tie him up. Too bad Beroe doesn't have any kind of extra senses to see at night, and there's not really any coming in this way. Just vague shapes, "Okay, hold it there mister criminal, or misses. I can't quite tell, whatever your preferred reference is! Hold still! You can't just go attacking old men in the middle of the night."

Her face scrunches up even more, trying to look serious, or intimidating, and failing at both. A circle of metallic glittering pink appears next to her, and she pops her phone into it, which hand-and-phone, pop out about 20 feet away to be settled on a metal box, and she presses a some touch screen buttons before pulling her hand free from the little spatial holes she made. "Now freeze! Admit to your crime, and we'll see what the GPD has to say about this. I'm serious!" And with that Beroe looks over at the camera, gives a big grin, and a wink. Mouthing once more, 'Serious' into it, before turning her attention back toward the shadow covered person in front of her, that she doesn't realize is a super hero also. At least not yet.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Shots fired at the 1500 block of Willingham and McDaniel, I have the likely suspect subdued down at the south side of the Ace Chemicals Processing Plant," Red Robin is saying, one hand to his ear as he listens to the 911 operator on the other side of the line. He looks up as a civilian approaches, going tense for a brief second until he's swept his gaze over her and determined she's not an immediate threat.

    Though all Beroe will see is a slight change to the angle of Red Robin's head, as the white-out lenses of his domino mask block any sight of his eyeline.

    Then he looks down at the man beneath him. Red Robin is currently holding him down with one hand, but the man has woken back up and started to struggle, sputtering out a few choice (read: filthy) words for his captor. "Yes, he's conscious now. No, he is no longer in possession of the weapon."

    In the dark it's hard to tell where the weapon has gone, as a matter of fact.

    Red Robin stands up, attention still on the tied-up man, but he tilts his head towards Beroe. "My pronouns are he/him, but thanks for asking," Tim clarifies, tone perfectly polite. And then he pulls something from his utility belt.

    Within seconds, Beroe's phone will have gone glitchy, her connection to the internet down and her ability to record (or really, do much of anything with it) temporarily gone. "I'm sure you can understand why we don't want our pictures on the internet. It's a safety concern, after all."

    The sounds of a struggle continue as the man on the ground thrashes like a fish out of water, and Red Robin heaves a big sigh. "You're not going to get out of those and the police are on their way. Next time maybe think twice before you discharge a firearm near a residential neighborhood." Judging by the way the man spits and swears some more, the lesson isn't being heard.

    So Red Robin sighs again, this time with an (unseen) roll of his eyes.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
Getting closer, Beroe is looking between the man struggling on the ground and then Red Robin, and she looks between them over and over again. Her head tilting down, then up, then down, then back and attempting to see over their shoulders. Then she smiles, big, "Oh, okay! Hello." She gives a little wave, "Can I ask you, are you part of the law-" She stops when she gets close enough to actually make out details of The Red Robin.

"Ohhhhhh my god oh my god ohmygod!!!!!" Squealing, she brings her hands up, arms bent at her elbows, and she shakes her fists like a little kid who's getting an ice cream cone.

"I know WHO you are!" She beams, and starts walking closer, more excitedly, "Robin, you are Robin, the Robin!" Maybe she can say Robin again, "And ohmygod, I get to meet you! Can I get a selfie." She reaches into another one of those spatial dimensional holes, it lights up with pink glitter light, and she grabs her phone, her hand popping out of the space nearby it, and then she brings it in. Then looks at her phone, blinking, looking harder at it, and tapping a few things, and then her eyes get wider as she looks back up to Red Robin, "Uhhh, this never happens to me. My phone is sputtering out, hold on a second, I'll try and restart it." She presses and holds, and then looks at it, "Well, maybe it'll come back on, soon, it's really being weird right now. Sorry!"

Closer still, and then she's looking down at the man, "Excuse me sir? Are you a criminal? Do you wear a mask of some kind? Are you friends with The Joker, Croc, ummm, the Mister Freeze, oooh ooh, or that scary scarecrow guy? I'd LOVE to meet him too." Back up to Robin, she's grinning big, "Wow! Your costume is so great! I love how the colors are so dynamic. The contours, just enough detail, it's so great!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    It's not unusual for civilians in Gotham to just approach him on the street on the rare occasion he's out in public with people around. Gothamites are a whole other breed, and the ones that have lived here long enough are made bold and brave by the experience.

    But this is different. Red Robin opens his mouth and then snaps it closed again, and he glances down at the guy he has tied up. Bizarrely, they share a Look between them, a moment of connection over their joint surprise at Beroe.

    "No selfies, sorry," he starts off with, after the moment has passed. "But thank you. And i go by Red Robin now... sort of a graduation thing, kinda, if you get my meaning?" Red Robin lifts a hand and shrugs one shoulder, uncertainly.

    Then his eyes narrow, behind the mask, as he tracks the phone issues. That's good for him, and he subtly adjusts where the EMP device hangs from his belt. Of course his own equipment is sufficiently hardened so as to not be disrupted, but commercial products don't usually have that level of protection.

    A quick tap to his gauntlet has the police scanner pulled up in one ear, and again... thank goodness he can multitask. Though he's left that group chat with his sibs on silent for the past few minutes.

    On the ground, the guy has managed with great effort to roll over onto his back, and now he's sweaty and very red in the face. Also definitely bleeding a little bit from the punch in the face, but Tim didn't hit him as hard as he could have. Out of the Bats, he's known to have a gentler touch.

    The only response Beroe gets is a panted f-bomb and some other choice words, nothing about any potential relationship to Gotham's villainous rogues gallery.

    When the attention is back on Red Robin, he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. "Uh... thank you?" He's not sure what to say. But then he asks, "Are you some kind of influencer, or... maybe a journalism student? Why are you out here? It's dangerous."

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
As the man rolls onto his back and shows he's bleeding, Beroe ohs, and smiles down to him, "Hold on, I've got something for that." And she pushes her hand through another one of those little portals that she creates, and out comes a bag of frozen peas, and then her other hand does the same, and there's a towel. She wraps it up and places it gently on the gentleman's face, "Hold that, but not for longer than 5 minutes! Okay? I'll be watching you Mister." And then back to Red Robin.

A gasp, and her eyes get bigger, as she grimaces slightly, then smiles, "Red Robin?! Whaaaaaat? That's one of my favorite restaurants, that's so cool you get to share a name with them. Did you design the costume yourself? Is it bullet resistant? Do you have fancy eye gadgets? Or are your eyes actually part of your mask?" She hmmms, and thinks, looking up a little then back to Robin. She waits. Blink blinking at him a moment.

"I'm Beroe. I'm a mildly influential social media influencer who's turned into a ... super hero." She offers, grinning bigger, "But definitely not as good as you. The way you were able to kick him, I could never, I'd have to send him through the ground or something, and have him fall from the sky." Her eyes and hands are sort of pointing out the imaginary situation, "And ooooh ooh, if he shot at me, I could send it harmlessly away, still working on that one though. I bet you just karate chop it or something out of the air?"

Closer now, she's just a bundle of energy, "Do you do this every night? This is so great, now if only I could get back to my fans. I could tell him all about meeting you! They'd love to know that, almost as much as they love dinner pictures." She reaches back out into nothingness, grabbing her phone and tap tap tapping on it, "Strange. It works for a moment when I pull it from a pocket, then..." She pushes it back through, and looks through the hole, "Huh. It's working at home." She shrugs and leaves it, pulling her arm back through, clasping her hands in front of her, "So what's next? Wanna stop a speeding car? Or a monster attack? Or, another old man?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    The arrival of the frozen peas wrapped in a towel earns a huff of breath from Red Robin. Maybe he had something stuck in his throat. Either way he's silent after, at least until the mention of the unfortunate restaurant chain with his name attached.

    He blows out another breath, this one much more like a sigh. "They stole the name from us," is all he says about that.

    Then: "Yes. Yes, somewhat. Yes. No. Nice to meet you, Beroe."

    Red Robin's gaze scopes Beroe out again, another quick up-down that is, again, only indicated by the faint tilting of his head. "Superhero, huh? Let me guess... not from Gotham?"

    While he talks, a series of twitching eye movements allows him to type in a quick search for Beroe on socials without needing to use his hands. Top of the line eye tracking software, built into the domino mask. The search appears on the right side of his HUD and he briefly tunes out the noise from the police scanner in his ear to read what he sees.

    "I appreciate your curiosity Ms. Kazinski, but if you don't mind I need to see this gentle--" The man with the peas on his face curses again, "--man into the hands of the police." Rather than answering any more of the questions lobbed his way, or acknowledge the issues with her phone that he is definitely responsible for. And up the man goes, Red Robin managing to catch the frozen parcel as it falls from his face and offer it back to Beroe before marching the man around the corner towards the front gates of the Ace Chemical Processing Plant.

    All the while he's surfing through Beroe's socials on his HUD, trying to absorb as much information about her as he can in the short amount of time he has.

    Tuning back into the police chatter is unnecessary, as the red and blue lights starting to illuminate the facade of the plant is all the indication Red Robin needs to know the GCPD have arrived.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
"Wow!" Beroe exclaims when RR gives her all the answers in a straight line, and she nods her head a few times, "Oh, they stole it? That must mean they really value the service you provide to Gotham City!" Yes, that's exactly what it would mean. And she close, watching, maybe even taking mental notes, then perking up when addressed, "Who, me? No, I'm not. Though it's a nice place. I've only been a few times, but I love it here when I come. Dark moody nights, bright city noise filled days, it feels a lot like Hell's Kitchen in places, but also just regular New York City in others." And then she grins bigger, "But we don't have the Batman, or the Robin..." A pause, she backtracks, looking guilty a little, "The Red Robin. That'll be tough to get a burger in the future from them, I do so love their Fries."

And as RR picks up the man, hands her back the peas, she ohs and grin-giggles a bit, "Gotta save those, they are almost five dollars now. Thanks!" And she tucks them away back into the spatial hole she creates with seemingly ease, and then starts to follow along as Red Robin heads toward the police.

"Oh, no need to call me Miss. Beroe is better, never know if you are talking to my mom or me, that way it's clear. Did you call the police? That's a good process." A pause, and her eyes get bigger, "Oh, wait, are you a fan on my insta? Is that how you know my name? That'd be soooooo cool, if you could post something, cause my phone is really needing to be looked at. Do you need any hel-" She pauses as you seem to heft the man pretty easily.

And at that point, she follows along, smiling big, and heading after Red Robin, "You know what would be super wiz? If you and the other Gotham Heroes got together and made a big splash page website, with what you stand for, who you are, what your specialties are, it'd really draw in a ton of public appeal. You could also sell merchandise, donate to charities more, all sorts of great things!" She beams, "You can't imagine how many social media pages I had to crawl through just to find mere mentions and such on you all. Once you get this guy into custody, what's next?" Just following behind, step by step.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Well," Red Robin begins, looking thoughtful, his mouth pursed faintly. "I'm glad you enjoy visiting Gotham, though I'd maybe warn against any more urban exploration. Still, you seem like you can handle yourself." That's what he can glean from the superheroics posted on her socials, at least.

    He confirms that, "Yes," he did indeed call the police, and then says, "No, I don't have any socials," to the next question. Which is a lie in the sense that Tim Drake certainly has a social media presence, if a small one, but Red Robin certainly doesn't. He's a ghost, only caught as a blurry figure in the background or just the flutter of the cape at the edge of a photo, never standing still long enough to be photographed.

    The man is still struggling every step of the way to get free, but so far the reinforced plastic of the ziptie hasn't shown any sign of giving in, and Red Robin's grip on the man's biceps is a tight hold as he gets marched around the way.

    Right into the waiting arms of a couple of police officers, who bundle him right into the back of the squad car behind them. "You got the weapon?" one asks, a little gruff, and Red Robin reaches behind into his utility belt, between his back and his cape, and produces the gun already bagged and tagged.

    "Thank you," the other officer says, more kindly, and then he looks at Beroe. "Wait, who's this? A witness? Ma'am, can we get your statement?" The officer steps forward with a notebook in hand.

    And Red Robin immediately side-steps to get out of the way so the officer can do just that.

    "We don't have a social media presence for a reason. I appreciate that you think it's necessary, but we manage to do our job just fine without it."

    If the other officer mumbles "Some freakin' job," well, Red Robin ignores it.

    Instead, he gestures to the officer that's stepped forward. "If you wouldn't mind giving the officer your version of events, they can wrap this up quickly."

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
The police are present, and Beroe is fixated more on Red Robin, after all, he's the star. And she's following along, and nods her head, "Everywhere has a great, feel to it." She smiles, "Really? You think I can handle myself. I wish I could do some of those... moves, you know, fight, I'm pretty bad at that. I've been taking some self-defense courses by Miss Angelina Vyotr" a social media influencer out of New York, as well, who was on some TV show and people went wild over her. "Well, her dojo, franchise, whatever it is, I get taught by a Devilyn, and a Todd."

Then the Police are coming up toward her and she furrows her brow, "Oh, a statement, from me? Well, I value equality and honor, and justice. I think you are all doing a great job here, and that you should honor yourselves whenever you can. But that man, he needs our help, something bad happened to him, and that means he shouldn't spend his entire life behind bars, it means he needs the support and love of his community." She takes in a breathe, "Violence, is just not the best course of action, it's the last. I hope, in my little way, to be able to give space for other actions to take place. Thank you." And she turns, to try and head after Red Robin some more.

The police, currently, looking a little dumbfounded by the 'statement', Beroe is able to get at least a few steps after the caped crusader, "To be honest. I can't really handle things on my own very well, still learning, and my powers aren't ... reliable. But I'm trying. I just think about what would happen if I didn't try, you know? Someone, somewhere, could be hurt just because those of us who can ... didn't ... I feel like everyone who dons a mask, or takes to the streets in protests, or joins H.R. in a company, they have the same dream. I just need to get better, if only you all taught classes, I'd join right up!" She beam-smiles.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Red Robin does indeed turn to go, having already done what he needed to do. The man and the evidence are with the police, who are no doubt going to be cruising the neighborhood here soon for additional witnesses.

    Especially when Beroe doesn't exactly provide what they're expecting for a statement.

    "You seem capable enough based on what I'm seeing on your social media." He detaches the gun-like apparatus from his hip and checks a dial on it subtly before he holds it at his side, the black metal of it gleaming in the moonlight.

    Then he lifts it, aiming it towards the nearest tall building. Not the plant itself, but an adjacent one that overlooks the plant. His finger begins to tighten on the trigger, but then he pauses.

    And his hand drops.

    He sighs. "I get it. It's hard to deny, once you see the need... it's always in the back of your head. You could be out there, helping, saving someone, and any minute you're not there someone could be hurt. Or worse."

    The grapple gun reconnects with his hip, a secret latch clicking into place to hold it there.

    "So what really brings you to Gotham?"

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
The police start to talk it through amongst themselves, looking for others, getting information from them and leaving Beroe alone as Red Robin responds to her. At least, they are thinking she might be part of the hero elements if they are talking, at least, even if she looks like she just dropped out of a furry goth convention.

When Red Robin looks like he's about to leave, Beroe gives him a slight wave, and then he stops and looks back asking a question. "I came to see if I could learn some new moves. Gotham has a pretty solid criminal element, and they use guns, so I was trying to start there, you know, and work my way up. In New York, it's like everyone has powers of some kind, and that just makes it a lot harder for my powers." She offers a little shrug, and a big smile, "And, of course, I was hoping I'd run into someone from your team. You all are SO good at what you do, I really wanted some pointers, or to watch you in action, or something! You know, cause if you want to get better, you have to learn from those who are good."

A big deep breath in and then out a little, "But, I suppose, you probably have a lot of work to do. What with, crime, and all, never sleeping. Don't you worry though, I'll find someone to rescue, or a bad guy to ... capture, stop? Stop. How about you?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    A quick glance back at the cops assured Red Robin that they're busying themselves elsewhere rather than pursuing him and his new shadow. But Beroe herself is stubbornly following, Tim will give her that. He has to respect it.

    It'd be hypocritical if he didn't.

    He says, "I don't know if you're looking in the right place or not. Gotham historically isn't always up for offering a warm welcome to anyone with powers," with something like an apology in his tone.

    But then he's rifling around in his utility belt for something.

    It's a small bat-shaped disc, with a bulging center that looks like it might be a button. "Emergency beacon," he explains. "Use it any time you're in trouble in Gotham, and we'll come running. Okay? And if you're going to try to do some crimefighting here in the city..."

    That thought causes him to draw in a breath, holding it for a moment before he lets it out in a smooth, slow exhale, adding, "Just... be careful."

    Handing the disc over, once again Tim unhooks his grapple gun and lifts it. "I'll be in touch," is the last thing he says before he takes aim and fires, the coil of the grapple line exploding out from the tip. It flies off into the night, hitting something a second later with a thunk, and then Red Robin is being pulled along with it, up and gone in an instant.

    He never did say how he was going to keep in touch, though, did he?"

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
Taking the disc, Beroe puts it through one of those portals of hers, which is why she calls them 'pockets' she has no actual pockets to place it. And then she smiles, "Thanks..." And then fssswwwsssh Red Robin is being pulled along. She sighs and looks in the direction he went, "So, cool!" She screams, which gets her more than a few looks from the police and those around, as she walks off.