17076/The Open Door: The Obsidian Bat (Gotham)

The Open Door: The Obsidian Bat (Gotham)
Date of Scene:	03 February 2024
Location:	Summerset
Synopsis:	The bats of Gotham examine a strange murder... and ritual house. What is this strange statue?
Cast of Characters:	Loki, Barbara Gordon, Damian Wayne, Talia al Ghul, Phoebe Beacon, Natasha Cranston
Tinyplot:	The Open Door

---

Loki has posed:
On 1515 Emerald street, in Sommerset, Gotham City, crime scene tape flutters loosely across the bushes in front of the three bedroom home. It's set in the angle of a lazy elbow of suburbia, about as far from the industrial side as possible. The crime at hand was a mysterious body found by the neighbor of 1517: they had gone searching about a smell, and had looked over into the yard of 1515...

As far as such crime goes, that was where the 'normal' part of it ended. The interior of 1515 was a confusing and uncomfortable puzzle. For those that can see the police materials, the reports are a mish-mash: confused pictures of what the police call some kind of 'satan worship' drawings that were attempted to be cleaned up, and evidence that a vast variety of things were traveling through here (drugs, weapons, who knows what else?). It was full of things, but now stands mostly emptied.

The main feature of the place is a very weird, human-sized black statue in the center of the otherwise empty master bedroom, jokingly referred to as the 'bat', "perfect for bats to deal with instead of the police". It's barely a 'bat': more like a huge chess piece. It has no wings, more a strangely carved rounded top like a wasp nest, with a few spine 'ears' at the top. It's big, at least 5' tall. There is only one picture of it in the files, and then a link to a connected report about Officer Farre, who touched it and had to be carried out when some kind of madness hit him. Nobody touched it after that.

--

The crime scene tape is lonely today, as a detective (Detective Sasha Benson) is now there at night, taking a break to smoke outside on the front porch. She's going through some notes on her handheld device, black curly hair masking most of her expression. She puts the device away, and continues to work on something she's making: three stick-like objects perhaps 2' in length, made of pieces of wood and duct tape. She tears off a new piece of the tape using the side of her teeth, and extends a stick to 3' by adding another dowel.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl had sent word to Robin to meet her at a specific point she knew he could reach easily. There, she'd picked him up in her own personal Batmobile. The two-seater armored vehicle proceeded on toward the active case in-progress, with Damian's computer displays showing him what was being fed through the GCPD systems with regard to the crime scene. The cockpit-style interior of Batgirl's personal car is as advanced as one might expect Barbara to have, with holographic displays surrounding the occupant, and the seats in a style that has one in the front and the second behind it, it offers a unique driving experience.

They arrived in a shadowy lane not far from the scene, where they exited the vehicle and proceeded through shady Bat style.

The officer outside would hear a soft voice, suddenly come in from the side. "Quite a mysterious event you've discovered here." The female voice says, Batgirl standing where once had been nothing before, her black and gold suit crisp and clean, looking as though she'd recently restored it even. She spares a glance toward the house, her red hair fluttering in the wind behind her, before her green eyes return to the officer working with her little craft project.

"I'm eager to hear more." Batgirl says in a low voice.

Damian Wayne has posed:
So, for what it's worth - Batgirl has an awesome Batmobile. He didn't press any buttons, but he enjoyed the ride as he was going through the file as she drove. There's a frown. "Sloppy." he murmurs. "It's as if someone hastily did these markings and then changed their mind - they may have gotten something they didn't want." Any further information is filed away for now as the vehicle comes to a halt. And while Batgirl is taking the ground right, the hiss of a grapple gun sends Robin airborne to meet back up at the scene.

"If you're looking to touch something with a ten foot pole, you're going about it the wrong way." That is the voice above Detective Benson. Perched on the corner of the building, the familar primary colors of Robin stand out against the building, even as the black cloak that he wears helps to kepe them muted.

But when Batgirl starts to speak, Robin mutes it down a little, his attention turning to the aerial view of the scene and sharing the information he finds with her, focusing on the partially erased markings to see if he can figure out what they might belong to.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
This isn't normally something that Talia Al Ghul would come for. She's not an official part of the 'Family' nor is she caught up in their communications methodology or coordinated. But in one of those rare coincidences, she had been in the area. And there's something about the location that reeks of magic. In whatever form or not. That has her attention. Whether it's something she intends to pass around to the other members of the Justice League Dark.. Or just honest curiousity.

She's hanging back in the darkness rather than immediately approaching. Attempting to stealthily observe and stay under cover. The detective isn't likely to immediately notice her (with luck) though Damian and Barbara defintiely would. She's glancing over around the place, taking in the layout and the forensics. Magic is far from her specialty.. But she can tell it's completely unnatural. Glancing over at where the body had been on display in a morbid fashion.. From her position of covert surveillance.

Loki has posed:
Detective Benson does jump a little. These bats come out of nowhere! About an hour before, Benson would have been more steady and perhaps managed not to jump, but she was really focused on her 'craft project' such that Batgirl definitely got her! To her credit, she recovers very fast. And inwardly chides herself for allowing ANYONE to sneak up... as a Gotham cop, that could mean death.

"I hoped some of you would come," Benson says, though her voice is no-nonsense, not hopeful. "I've rehearsed my overview a few times, and it still sounds like three cases smashed together. This could be a lot of things. Either it IS a lot of things, or it's a lot of red herrings to mask what it really is."

Robin's comment about the pole seems to cause a smirk. "I didn't witness first-hand what happened to the officer that DID touch, but I talked to him afterward in the hospital. He's ...not well. Do you have a better stick in your utility belt?" Benson isn't making fun or mocking, she's really ASKING. She doesn't want to poke it with the horrible stick either. "Our budget is limited, some of us try to be creative." She knows the stick looks bad, but, well.

In terms of aerial view, the yard is where the body was found, and it has all the usual police markers of having been unearthed from back there from a shallow grave. It looks more like a dump-site out there, and a lot of the ground is dead from where crates and other heavy items clearly were staged for some time. All of the ritual pictures were taken indoors -- though aerial view can still look in the windows and see a lot of it. The bedrooms are where the drawings were found. There's no major furniture left in there other than a table, mix of chairs, two sofas, a fridge. No beds, no wall art other than one long painting of some cactus in southwest theme, in the back hallway.

Talia's closer look into the yard proves that the site /reeks/ of decomposition, no wonder the neighbor called in the mess. It's been removed, including a lot of the ground, for the investigation: it might rain, they can't let things get any worse...

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    No, they can't let things get any worse.

    Oriole had been on patrol nearby, and joins in the rest of the family, swathed in dark grays with orange highlights to her costume, blue lenses in her domino shaded beneath her hood.

    "I'm keen to take a look at the statue itself." pipes up Oriole from behind Talia as she steps out of the shadows. "I've got a better stick to work with." she comments lightly, though she does frown, and note that she might want to speak to the officer as well -- if there's corrupting influence left over, she may be able to lend a hand.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl remains motionless in the spot that she'd simply appeared in. Her eyes remain on Officer Benson as the woman sheds a bit more detail on the situation at-hand. "I left my poking stick in my other suit." Batgirl dryly jokes with the Officer, even showing a small smirk, which really sets her apart from how Batman is rumored to act on jobs, showcasing more personality is a feature of working with the redheaded Batgirl. "We'll gather up every bit of evidence we can, and start compiling possible scenarios." She states, with a glance given toward Robin's direction.

On their team comms, Robin will hear Barbara's voice, letting him know to get in there and search and catalogue everything, just as he'd been trained by the Dark Knight himself. Barbara doesn't have to speak to send comm messages out, as she has a neural implant that allows her to communicate through her tech devices.

She does step forward then, toward the Officer, and eyes the stick she'd been trying to create herself. A questioning stare goes to the woman then. "Have you reached out to SHIELD, they have a magical division, wizardry and the like. This might be something they have a wealth of information on." Babs advises, as magic really isn't her strong suit.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Even as Batgirl is getting ready to unleash him, Robin was pulling up information. Over the team comms, he adds commentary. "Records show that this place -- along with roughly seventy-five percent of this block -- are owned by Summerset Leasing, LLC. A subsidiary of Roxxon." A grunt at that. "They already have a cleaning crew on the way to prep the unit for lease when the scene is cleaned up."

"Renter was Theodore Addelson, bartender at the Restless Nights Bar. Or at least recently was. Looks like he was drifting between jobs. He's probably our DOA, crime-scene photo looks similar to the mug shot on file. Did a couple of stints for theft and drug possession."

Anyway! Barbara gave him a task, and when a new voice joins in, he taps his mask. "Oriole, wanna check out the place with me? Been looking for new digs." Said dryly, "There's markings on the report, figured your eyes would be better on it than mine. And then there's that statue. Not anything I recognize yet."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And Talia goes to look about, musing over her shoulder. "Something had fun here.." This is spoken quietly so only Phoebe can hear it - she's not tied into the comm network, so unless the others are paying attention to her or listening in they may not pick it up. She listens to what she can of the description of events and the victim..

Even as she goes to circle about, her hand over on her katana as she can assume -something- is there. Paying attention tot hem in ever such a minimal manner. A scrying device or an imp, perhpas?

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    "You'd do well not to touch it, Batgirl," a voice suddenly speaks up from out of nowhere, a moment before the darkness in one corner of the room starts to shift, warp, solidify, twist -- and suddenly a tall, cloaked shape has always been standing there, blue eyes blazing above a carmine scarf that covers the lower half of its face.

    One of my... Associates... Brought Officer Farre's condition to my attention and I took the liberty of examining him. He does not merely believe he is haunted -- there is some form of... entity attached to him."

    The Shadow continues, nodding briefly at Benson. "I was able to temporarily suppress it long enough to have a conversation with your colleague; he insists that it started following him the moment he made physical contact with this statue. I've recommended the orderlies to contact an exorcist of my acquaintance; his treatment is somewhat beyond conventional medicine."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Oriole gives an upnod to Damian as she comes up behind him, and looks to The Shadow as they speak up.

    "THe Shadow's right." she states quietly. "I'm getting weird readings on the energy in this house." she explains. She's not in Balm mode, and can't be TOO obvious about what she's sensing, what she's feeling, but she reaches to Robin and taps his shoulder. And she stiffens momentarily, before she opts to go into the house first.

    If anything's going to jump out, it's going to be jumping at Phoebe, with her magical senses and her own abilities.

    "And whatever it is... it's still here." she murmurs into the subvocals of the assembled Bats.

Loki has posed:
"I think the chief is going to contact SHIELD, but I can't say." Detective Benson isn't in charge of that. "But we weren't sure it's not just... a drug hallucination. Anyway...." She clears her throat. "What it looked like originally when we arrived -- was some kind of storehouse of stolen goods, cleaned out. Everything's moved out, except trash. LOTS of trash. Maybe something bad went down: you know, some issue over pricing, or someone's cut was wrong. Corpse in the yard. Not out of the ordinary, for stolen goods fencing and movement. We've gotten evidence of drug use in the living room, though it's muddled with a variety of other things, much like you'd see at the back room of a gross dance club. Food, other substances. It's unclear, but a mess to sift through. A lot of garbage was ground into the carpets."

Benson pauses in her story. "So we have a disgusting house, used as a storage or sale den. Fine. Until you get upstairs. We think there were rituals in all three bedrooms, but everything was destroyed, 'cleaned' in terms of a lot of bleach and dripped wax on the carpets, then covered in layers of garbage to hide what was still there. Ritual objects all gone, except for that statue. Why it was left, we don't know. An officer touched it, and went really crazy. The report says probably a hallucinogen." Natasha's information makes the officer look vindicated, though.

"I don't like to assume, but as I said, this is a crash between what looks like a more ordinary stolen goods ring gone violent, and weird cultists upstairs. Cult of stolen tvs? I hope you're able to sort out more of it. I was making the stick because there were designs on the floor, and I'm sure as hell not stepping on those. I wanted to tip over or move the statue out of the spot it was in, was my idea, with the stick, see if there was evidence under it."

The stick probably isn't strong enough to tip the statue. But maybe. "But exorcism? Yeah, I'll retire my stick," Benson says, disturbed, and puts it aside on the porch steps, finally standing. Her cigarette gets put out, finally.

--

The statue itself, upstairs in the master bedroom, is surrounded by wrecked carpet, thick with smears of old garbage and a yellow waxy substance. The mess is covering MOST of the designs that were burned into that carpet. The mess is about 3' in radius out from the black stone statue itself, which is a solitary, weird chess piece in the middle of that room, alone in the gross trash smears.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Glad to have you with us on this one, Oriole. Seems to be an unsettling one." BArbara's voice says over the team comms, without her having to actually speak and confuse Officer Benson in front of her. Babs has dealt with a lot of odd things since she got out of her wheelchair a few years ago. From European Werewolves invading Gotham, to Solomon Grundy, and his ever reanimating horrific self, but ghosts, and curses? She didn't want to believe in that stuff, even if she liked movies and video games related to it.

"Addelson was involved in black market dealings, it seems." Babs says to Benson, as she spares another glance toward the home, before her green eyes go again to the GCPD Officer. "Have you checked in to any leads on the possibility that this statue was stolen from some museum? There might be some rather upset curator out there searching for this thing."

Overhead, Baatgirl's flock of bat-drones have arrived, and are near-silently sweeping around the house, their various sensor equipment searching for whatever may be of interest to the team, with a priority on looking for any suspicious people possibly skulking around the perimeter to observe or interfere.

Damian Wayne has posed:
When Oriole taps him on the shoulder, Robin steps aside to let the newer Bat ahead of him - even if he's the younger one. "I'll keep an eye on here." he offers, though really, he's sure that Phoebe is more than capable of taking care of herself.

As he follows her up the stairs, he frowns. "Do you see it?" he asks over comms as he shares the imagery. "It's like... these are basic symbols, right? You could find these in any of the basic books on summoning. Even some of the gaming compendiums." he comments as he heads to the master bedroom. "But they didn't clear the walls. It's like they used the trash as /part/ of the summoning?"

That is until they arrive in the master bedroom. A pause as the Detective takes it in. He's already checking some of the markings and he as he scrapes his gloved fingers on a wall, he brings them up to sniff at them. "....chocolate?" That seems to make him even more confused. "Ladies, any of you know anything about bloodless summoning rituals?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Ahh, the Shadow. Someone that Talia's family knows. So long as they're not going to have.. 'Issues' with one another now. But it's reason enough for her to stay back just a little more. Talia goes to scan cautiously along the perimeter, hand on her blade. "I'm going to check along just in case." That's spoken softly to Phoebe even as she goes to ready to do a long sweep around. Best not to aggravate those that might well have a historical feud with her line, after all. And hopefully her staying out of the way of the cop as well that's inside. Talia goes to cautiously move around..

Looking for anything that might be an indication that they were being watched. Or that might be a bit more specific to work with. Any sort of idea if it ran away.. Or is still there.

Her sweep leads her around over to the garage, where she tracks down the place that three vehicles seemed to have left from.. Taking things with them. A quick check of the garbage - mayonaise, ketchup, mustard.. They know that COndiment King wasn't involved. She glances over at cheap, thrown away lamps. Thrown away things strewn about. not worth taking? Were they in a hurry? Or..

Clever. Cover. Things thrown away to likely make it seem like a general robbery and cover what they were truly absconding wtih. She goes to trace the direction the vehicles had seemed to flee in.. Then goes to head to Phoebe. "Whatever was inside they took with them. And left in three vans." In other words, if it has magical signatures, could she track it?

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    "If this atrocity to good taste ever disgraced a museum, some luckless fool or another would have touched it long before now," The Shadow points out, their disdain for the poor artwork coming through clearly despite the voice mask. "If I were to hazard a guess, I'd look for a spate of... casualties... in the black market art circuits."

    Talia gets a nod, but no commentary as she passes. Perhaps the Shadow does not recognize her? Or simply decides to likewise leave any possible grudges outside for now? No way to tell.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Obviously, the solution is to hang out with Phoebe more. Phoebe always gets involved with ghosts and goblins and curses, poor Austin gets dragged on ghost hunts. For the longest time it was the only thing Phoebe was best known for.

    "It's been an unsettling week, Batgirl." Phoebe's voice returns comment. Oriole quietly removes her domino, her face still shielded by her her hood as she looks around, climbing up the stairs as she narrows her eyes.

    "Depending on what they were carrying... maybe." she murmurs to Talia, and she wrinkles her nose as she goes through the rooms.

    "... this stuff's all beginner. My John had me doing this within a month." Oriole remarks in the first bedroom. The second one she pokes her head into, and gives a soft 'ugh' at the smell. "Same deal. This is apprentice-level." she replies to her own statement, and then to the master bedroom.

    She grimmaces. Damian might catch her knees wobble slightly.

    "You can summon anything with the right materials. Chocolate? Some Aztec gods can be summoned with it. Santa Muerte for high quality chocolate -- but this isn't..." she states, and she pause.

    She kicks over a little bit of the trash with a boot.

    "No One tell Batman." she warns.

    She raises her hands, and brings her ring fingers in, hyper-extending her index fingers, and she whispers a soft cantrip to try and encourage all the trash to move to the side of the room.

Loki has posed:
To Batgirl, the detective is unhappy: "Nobody is claiming this thing. No reports of anything stolen. If it was taken, nobody's admitting it was stolen from them. We don't know where it came from. I have no references on it either. We thought we had a hit, but it was for a 5 inch one, not a 5 foot one. So-- It's just ... here. We don't know how old it is." Benson is dismayed she lacks the information Batgirl wants.

For Batgirl's drones and to Talia's eye as she is out by the street and side, they are seeing neighbors mostly. Curious people that look over at the house now and then. In fact, both sides of neighbors appear to be packing things up, if you look in their windows. Like they all decided February it was time to go on vacation. It's not a LOT of luggage, more like headed to grandma's for the weekend... get away from the creepy crime scene, perhaps. There are a few outside on the left, packing their jeep with overnight bag: a man and his young daughter.

--

Upstairs, the trash somewhat moves when the spell is applied to clear it. A lot of it is stuck to the floor. That old chicken wrap PEEEEELS up slowly at the cantrip. So it's the loose trash that moves, more than the stuck stuff.. but it shows odd arcs, spirals, and some runes. Mixed media trash art. Two limbs of it go up to the wall drawings, connecting them into that center around the statue. The statue seems to not mind the cantrip, it just sits there.

Damian Wayne has posed:
"You realize when you say my John, it suggests that you were a prostitute." Robin offers flatly to Oriole. While he /knows/ what she meant, he's making the distinction for her for future reference.

He's helping.

At least until she starts clearing back the trash and as a pattern begins to emerge, he requests, "Oracle, can you send a drone to me, I want a look from above at what this is, so we can start running it."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl affords a look toward Natasha. The Shadow was a rare sight for her, but one who had worked with the Birds of Prey before. She gave Natasha a light nod before her green eyes returned to the Officer.

"You're doing good work here, Officer Benson." Yes, she knows who she is. "This is an odd case, even for us. But we'll figure out what is going on here, one way or another..."

Babs' looks out across the street, watching the family packing their vehicle up for a moment, her eyes falling upon the little girl being ushered around by a parent. For whatever reason, it draws her mind back to a memory of her father doing the same for her on a night where some heat was coming down heavily on him for his work in rooting out corruption in the GCPD. It was a scary night, and triggered some distant emotion that she pushed out of her mind in the present time.

Damian's voice brought her back, and with a glance skyward, she communicated with one of her drones. "It's coming down to your location. You have control of it on your personal device, Robin."

Robin has unlocked Bat-drone.

With her attention back on Benson, Batgirl shows her a small smirk. "I better go inside, see what all of the fuss is about." The armored, and caped, Batgirl turns toward the home's entrance, quietly moving through the threshold in to its interior, her cape fluttering around her legs as she moves with a fluid grace.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul goes to muse over as she feels.. ALmost tired. She resists it - there's something in the area pressing down on them. That seems to be hitting those and driving everyone away. Then she's gonig to look over at the jeep that re gettingt hings together. Talia muses.. Tapping at her side. No, being interrogated by a woman with a katana isn't going to help things.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The Shadow nods as they watch Phoebe work, then suddenly hunches slightly while raising one hand to their ear in the classic 'receiving a radio call' gesture. "I am here... I see. Understood; I'll see what I can do. The specialist here may be able to help."

    The slouch hat tilts in Phoebe's direction. "My exorcist would like to know if there's any chance you could discover the demon's name; apparently the exorcism is going... roughly, so far, and the demon appears to be somewhat more powerful than would ordinarily be the case. The hospital may need to be fumigated and ritually cleansed when this is over."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "It's way easier than saying 'the fake John Constantine that adopted me, taught me a bunch of magic, fed and housed me and ended up being a demon-controlled flesh puppet'." Phoebe answers back a little tersely to Damian in a hushed breath. At the question of if she can pull the Demon's name?

    "I can try." she replies, and she takes a deep breath.

    "This is purely demonic in origin. Not sure whose it is, but it's definitely demonic -- look at the hooks here, in the wax on the floor. The way the arms draw out with that axis. It's... a summoning circle, gate style." she looks around, and she takes a deep breath, and she folds back her hood. It's not often Phoebe switches out of Low-to-No Magic mode, but this was an emergency.

    "Circulus infra et cubiculum invectas, ostende nobis nomen quod per te vocatum est." she asks the circle politely to say who has been summoned through it. In Latin, on the fly.

Loki has posed:
Benson has noticed the neighbors, too. And she can sense she CAN give some light on that subject to Batgirl. "We spoke to neighbors a lot this morning. We have three vans with stolen plates. Multiple trips back and forth, a mix of hours when they were seen. We're working on that. Also a blue honda civic, Addelson's car, we're looking for it. The neighbors noticed the move-out, and figured Addelson was leaving. They're glad, this place was loud with a lot of visitors at night, scaring the kids. But weirder, we don't know when the objects came in. Maybe slowly over a long period of time, trickled in like hoarders do. Addelson had a lease for just under a year, it was up soon."

"Are you going to take the statue?" Benson asks of Batgirl, then, sort of suddenly. A weird question, like she was compelled to ask. She doesn't sound worried, or angry about it. Interested, perhaps. If she spotted anything about Batgirl looking at the daughter... maybe that's what prompted the question. "It's unsettling here. The longer I stay, the more I feel what the neighbors mentioned. Like that it's... a fight to get motivated to deal with this mess." She DID abandon her stick idea really, really quickly. And she checks the time.

--

When Phoebe asks her question, the statue gets... shiny. That's the best word for it. A gleam over the surface. Even the bat-camera drone will pick it up, as energy moves. Freeze-frame later, they will see mouths, eyes, so swift, moving on the surface of the stone. The response hits both people in the room: both Damian and Phoebe....

It is a mess, like fifty people saying different words, different names, all together. A chorus of things.... as tangled as the muck on the floor.

    Many 'whos'.

Damian Wayne has posed:
As he brings the drone into the room to hover over the scene, Robin glances aside to Oriole as she makes her John commentary. There's a little nudge and he gives her a look. The 'are you okay' look. Because she, of all people, knows that he wasn't trying hard to get under her skin. However, he doesn't get long to be concerned as Phoebe chants and then...

Voices. So many voices. They talk, they natter. And to someone who usually backs out of crowded rooms really quickly, Damian is already starting to feel it in this small room, too small for that many people. He lowers his head, pulling on his ear roughly, trying to keep his focus on the situation.

Though at the same time, it's urging him to touch it, and Robin bites down /hard/ on his tongue. Hard enough that Phoebe may notice he's drawing blood.

Hand to his utility belt, he's dropping in a birdarang with an explosive charge.

Probably not a good idea.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl proceeded further in to the house, her eyes roaming over the interior of the crime scene while she heard Benson coming along behind her, still talking with regard to all the details. The caped crusader was on her way toward the stairs to the second floor when what Benson said caused her to pause her steps... Batgirl turned, her eyes once more going to Benson's face, but this time she had a bit of a suspicious look upon her own half-masked face. Had Benson been influenced by whatever this dark magic was? Or was it all just drugs, airborne mind altering toxins. She's much more inclined to believe that, then the hocus pocus stuff, even if she's seen magic countless times up to this point.

When one of her Bat-drones is brought in to the master bedroom upstairs, and she gets a glimpse of what is happening through her link with the drone's cameras, Babs speaks through her comm-connection.

"Lets prepare the thing for transport. It is too dangerous to leave here any longer." Drugs or Demons, Babs doesn't want this thing left here. "Get it ready to move, however you need to, and use the grapple links to the drones outside, we'll air lift it out of here."

Her drones begin to flock outside the windows, ready to latch connections to the five foot tall statue, and just drag it out of the house.

To Benson, Batgirl nods once. "Whatever this thing is, it's a hazard for all of us. If you do contact SHIELD's wizardry department, let them know we have it. They should be able to reach out to us if they are interested in this case."

Loki has posed:
When Benson understand it's being moved, she nods... and hurries out of the house. She gets OUT of there, quickly.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Voices. Chattering, nattering, itching at everyone's minds like skittering bugs...

"SILENCE."

    One word, somehow louder than the room should be able to contain. Not a command; something far deeper than that -- an assertion of what will be, and an almost physical sensation as the Shadow's Will sweeps out and pushes the madness away from everyone and back into the statue that spills it.

    "This thing will need to be thoroughly contained," the figure addresses Batgirl. "If the Sorcerer Supreme is in the country this week, that would be my recommendation. For now, though, I'm required elsewhere. Contact the hospital if you're successful at divining the demon's name."

    Another nod, a tip of the hat, and -- nothing there but mist and shadow...

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's not Damian who's getting under Phoebe's skin. Especially not at this moment. But hey, orders is orders. She drops her hands, and teeters back a little as she breathes out, and shakes her head.

    "I'll need --" she begins, her voice cracking before she clears her throat, and she reaches for Robin's arm. She wraps her gloved hand around his wrist, and she looks at him with a soft expression.

    "Batgirl. We can't move the statue. Not until I can determine what the nature of the circle and the ritual was. Or someone from SHEILD's far more knowledgeable staff breezes through." she states into the comms. "If anyone touches it, or if it gets moved and this circle was what was containing it, it's going to be a Bad Time. And with what I have on me now I can't contain it without shedding a lot of blood."

    She squeezes at Damian's wrist gently, to keep him in the here. "But we've gotta get Robin out of here. Talia too if she's about. This... this is heavy."

Loki has posed:
At the Shadow's order, the voices silenced. They were saying names, maybe... with different tones, different inflections. But they stop when asked, and the statue seems dormant... but still shiny. The footage later will continue to see odd shapes flit across it...

Damian Wayne has posed:
As Phoebe grabs his wrist, Robin snaps a look at her and he blinks out of it. "...Balm can handle this too." he rumbles over the comms. "This thing is in Gotham, I don't recall we go branching out unless we have to." He's apparently shaken off the voices, due to the silence and Oriole's prompting.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The voices in her head irritate Talia, but under the orders of the Shadow they dissipate. She does not look troubled.. But she is aggravated. As the discussion continues she moves to simply leave and depart the area. A bit stiffer in her mannerisms than usual - but she'll be fine. Just rather out of her depth.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Fair enough." Batgirl's voice quietly speaks over comms, as her eyes watch the Officer exiting the house. With a few seconds of thought, and an internal dread unrelated to the supposed dark spirits abound, Babs lets a exhale escape between her lips.

"Everyone fall back. We'll lock this place down." She states, standing just beside the stairs toward the second floor. She didn't need to go up and see this 'thing' for herself, not anymore. Instead, Batgirl turns back toward the front door, and begins marching toward it. her wrist computer is brought up on her left wrist gauntlet, the holographic display illuminating her front in a soft blue glow as she orders her flock of drones to setup a net around the place, with half landing upon corners of the roof, while the other half continue their flight pattern in the sky above the place.

Babs starts sending out messages, as well, directly to Zatanna, and indirectly toward the Sorcerer Supreme since she does not know how to reach that enigmatic man with any immediacy.

Outside the rumbling engines of the Babsmobile herald its arrival on the front lawn of this demon besieged home, likely letting the neighbors know that whatever is going on here is not quite handled yet...

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "It's fine, Robin." Oriole states, and she puts her domino back on. "It's fine. Let's get you out of here. You're higher priority." she states to her 'ounger' brother, and she makes sure to guide him out and away from the stone statue.