167/A quiet night in Gotham

A quiet night in Gotham
Date of Scene:	28 February 2020
Location:	A Back alley in Gotham
Synopsis:	Driver and Cassie have a lovely time in Gotham.
Cast of Characters:	Driver, Cassandra Cain

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Driver has posed:
    New York is usually where the Driver likes to spend the majority of it's time. Somone needed a ride down to Gotham for some cape stuff though, and so Driver was thus drafted. Now though this little trip is proving itself to be something of a nightmare. The local 5-0 seemed to think he was one of the bad guys, on account of the cape he'd driven down hadn't been -the- Batman. Then well he'd gotten a flash request from somebody else, and played ambulance with the cops in tow. It was proving to be a particularly nasty night.

    Thankfully it's wheeled that big old Mustang down a narrow alley, away from prying eyes. Casually the Driver climbs out of the window, as the door's been bent shut. It's not looking too great either, soaked in a mixture of blood and road grime. That totally radical vintage slayer T-shirt is of course ruined. Slowly it shrugs off it's jacket, and pulls off that ballcap, shades and bandana. Without it's disguise it's, well a fairly anonymous young twenty something or other woman. Notable primarily for the ninja star embedded firmly in her shoulder, and a few pot marks from gunfire.

    That all black fastback mustang isn't doing any better mind you, as it's wearing plenty of white picked up from Gotham's finest. Both rears have gone flat, the bullet proof glass is covered in stopped rounds and the bodywork otherwise is covered front to back in various impacts. It's just, not been a great night for everyone's favorite superhero uber. The trunk doesn't exactly seem eager to open either, though our favorite wheel woman is able to get her fingers into the gap and pop it open with a little bit of superhuman effort. "Well, fuck."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Lightning flashes in the sky, which is not what a normal person would refer to as possible given the weather forecast including words like 'balmy' and 'lame'. Also the windows not rolling up could become an issue if the weather decides to go full supervillain. It might be something else though, considering the precipitation. It is, apparently, raining humans.

Slamming into the wall beside the car, a body hits with a damp smack, then hits the pavement just behind. The lack of movement might make one think that there's an issue, one that lends toward calling a different kind of car. Long black one. But the stillness doesn't stay, and though the lightning above repeats, it doesn't follow. As the dark and clearly hurt figure puts a hand on the back of the car, using it to rise.

And eyes lock on Driver, in the darkness.

Driver has posed:
    The body is watched mutely for a moment, as the Driver starts running the numbers. Still nevermind being blood soaked and yaknow, having a god damned ninja star stuck in her shoulder. She offers a small smile, and her hand. "Hello, you appear to be injured. I'm the driver, I help people. It will be some time before I am able to offer my full range of normal services, but I am capable of providing you first aid if you would like?"

    The Trunk is crammed full of spare parts, four full spares, and a particularly elaborate first aid kit. "Are you currently being chased by anyone, or under infernal contract with extra-planar beings?"Yaknow, the usual questions for superhero patients. "It would seem that Gotham is quite the difficult town for heroics, yes?"

Cassandra Cain has posed:
The eyes show no response, watching Driver without reaction. Unable to comprehend most of what it's saying to her, the person behind those eyes watches the lips. The motions, the body, nothing. The tone of voice, that gives her something. But not much.

Then, sudden motion, as if uncoiing a spring all at once. The figure's eyes flicker upward, and then she spins. The right arm is kept close, clearly damaged, but the motion allows her to move out of the way of the incoming blast of light. Rotations, it allows the left heel to spin upward, hooking the arm of the incoming ...person... who was plummeting without warning, fields of light snapping into being from its hands.

And the figure, the one who fell first, somersaults over the car to land beside Driver, hand raised to cover her eyes from the blinding flashes. As whoever she's been fighting rises, its hands too bright to look upon. A person, who apparently can shoot...light.

Driver has posed:
    This is always the most difficult part, because it knows that this is more than just probabilities at work. So it makes a judgement call. It reaches into the trunk, past the tires and snags it's baseball bat. Ninety pounds of hardened high carbon steel machined to look like a baseball bat. "I do apologize, but I can't let you harm my patient."And then it's off, tapping that baseball bat against it's shoulder as it just saunters right the hell in there.

    "Bottom of the ninth, Bases loaded. Three outs, Driver's up to bat.." That Bat comes up, as they twist into a picture perfect batter's stance before that swings comes foreward with all but a whistle. They're aiming center body mass here, not terribly interested in killing anyone. That said the Driver's "bonked" plenty of folks over the years, and has yet to have one get back up.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Still dealing with the stars dancing in front of her eyes, the girl he's chosen to defend nearly gets nailed by another blast. She has reflexes to spare, it seems, evading without counterattacking. There's been no real attempt to hurt the lightbringer, which is in her favour, but that could be because blindness.

Then things change, as player two enters the game, and Driver's bat explodes. They hit, they actually managed to make contact with something. Which is a feat in and of itself, and whoever she is she owes Driver a new bat. But the rain of tinkling glass is testament to what happened, and the right hand's light going out.

To be fair, a person who's primary tool is 'blind everyone' is a difficult target. Until they start losing their flashbulbs.

The lady behind Driver bares her teeth, trying pull Driver out of the way of the retaliatory blast, as the villain (?) launches a Nova. And the area crackles with heat. HOpefully the car will protect them, because that's the only cover in the area..

Driver has posed:
    "Stay behind me please."One arm trailing back to push Cassie back, as she presses in to make the most of their advantage. Single minded has always been one of the bigger reasons the Driver's not a fantastic fighter, and it's apparently on full display. They step in, trying to maintain an even spacing to make the math all the simpler. Left hand swinging out to help wtith the range finding, before they bring that bat back into the fray. Swinging the thing up and down after their foe.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
One quickly would get the idea of why the girl was evading, and doing so at such speed and desperation. And why she was losing the fight, because the response to Driver's single-minded assault is immediate. The complete lack of a monologue might be unnerving, but this is clearly a villain, because whoever it is does not hesitate to shoot Driver, and shoot them HARD.

One-handed, sheaths of light sear out like knife blades, slicing into Driver without mercy. It is trying to kill them, and given the effect, has good reason to think that they can. Any human would be torn apart, literally, by the one, two, seven, fourteen sunbeams of hard light.

So fast, so direct. Which is why the dark figure of the powerless girl running up the wall to one side gets around it, moving in circles. Landing without sound, as the person attacks Driver. Lands behind. And then the light goes out with a tinkling noise, and the alley goes into total darkness.

There is, to be fair, quite a bit of sound though. It sounds painful. Which is probably what you'd expect, when a ninja lands behind you and turns off your light source.

Driver has posed:
    The Driver recoils, head rocking back as a knee buckles under. They hit their knees with an audible thud and remain still, before slowly rolling their head foreward. Then the impossible, as they slowly get back onto their feet. The whole alley smells of burning flesh and blood, but the Driver's still standing. "I know how this must look, but please do not be alarmed."One hand reaching up to grasp the tattered skin of their face and tear it away.

    Underneath it's all kevlar, carbon fibre and armor steel painted in a uniform flat black. Eyes flickering for a moment as those pale blues fade out, replaced by a dull red glow. "If it's not much trouble, could you please only disable them? I don't kill as a general rule, I prefer to save lives."That voice drifts out of the comfortable midwestern accent it once had, becoming for lack of a better word more neutral. "And your injuries, still require first aid miss."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Still not a word from the two who came late. The sound of scuffling fades quickly, heels kicking pavement sound the same no matter who's doing them. Then they slow, then stop, and the villain is set on the ground, a choke hold apparently enough to put it to sleep. Because sleeping it is, the face breathing, the lungs taking air.

The woman, with the broken arm, breathing gently. Watching Driver still. Asian features, falling into Chinese if one knows where to look, stare at Driver. At the kevlar, at the steel. And seem to slide off, as if uncertain where to look. She isn't responding. Perhaps she can't hear Driver? Speak English? But she didn't kill the assailant, that at least was done.

Driver has posed:
    "Thank you for your cooperation."A bloodied hand is offered, as the Driver takes a limping step foreward. "Please, let me have a look at that arm? My name is the Driver, and I help heroes. I believe that you certainly qualify."
    A glance is offered back towards the car for a moment "Unfortunately It will take a moment to be able to offer you transport if that is desirable. Also, presuming your silence is not a religious or philosophical decision I am fluent in sign language, or can supply a notepad if this is desirable? As ever I am here to help after all."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Though the temptation is high to take advantage of that glance-away, Cass just didn't have time to react to it like she normally would have. She's having serious issues reading this person, it isn't giving her signals. So she twitches, but doesn't move in time.

The real problem is that nothing she's said so far has been received, and she's been chatting this entire time. Just not in words. So she tries, she makes a real effort, and opens her mouth. To give Driver something that really shouldn't be necessary, and frankly taxes her patience. A word.

"Thanks."

Then she turns, running up the hood of the beaten old mustang and using the roof with her toes. Somehow she manages to not add any new dents, but she leaps and reaches with the good arm, into the sky.

It's just a fire escape, but she is clearly not held back by the broken right arm, because she's scuttling up to the roof as fast as she jumped. Not another word, nor would there be.

Sooo quick though.

Driver has posed:
    The Driver would smile if it were still able, but instead it just watches cooly as Cassie makes good on her escape. Calmly it lets that hand drop, before offering a quiet. "You are welcome, hero."

    Slowly it limps back to it's mustang, and gets back to work. It wasn't going to get back to New York just sitting around of course. It changes those tires, wipes up much of the blood and slowly climbs back inside. A moment spent in silence, before reaching foreward to flip the switches and that big V8 labors to life with a cough and a sputter. "I think I need a day off."