17242/Saif and Sounds of Horror

Saif and Sounds of Horror
Date of Scene:	21 February 2024
Location:	Slaughter Swamp - outside Gotham
Synopsis:	TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, stabbing, threat of injury to genitals, language, horror, boba tea Damian calls in Ravager and Flatline to assist in an interrogation. Saif Hassan isn't killed -- in keeping with the principles of The Batman -- but they don't have to save him from what lurks in Slaughter Swamp.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Rose Wilson, Flatline

---

Damian Wayne has posed:
After leaving Saif Hassan in the molded, infested ruins of a model home in a suburban development in Slaughter Swamp that never got off the ground, Damian's mind raced on what to do. Because he really was not fully considering all the options - even as he took up his phone and scrolled through his contacts.

Tapping on the one for RW, he sent her a simple text. 'Need help, interrogation.'

When Rose joined him, he was outside of the home again, dressed in the all black bodysuit of the League of Shadows, with the green and gold trimmed jacket on above that. There is no Robin here tonight.

"Have a prisoner. Saif Hassan. He killed Phoebe. I need to get some answers and decide what to do with him." He hasn't opened the door yet to take her into the home, giving her the chance to decide if she wants to come along, or stay out.

Rose Wilson has posed:
An interrogation. Robin needs help with an interrogation, which means Rose arrives as Ravager in full armor and with a full weapon compliment.

The young man greeting her in black with the green and gold jacket definitely isn't Robin. While her meticulous eye for detail might notice the similarities, that's not what is important tonight.

Rose draws a deep breath when the prisoner is named, along with his crime. Her weight shifts, the woman folding arms over her chest. This isn't the life she is leading now. Rose exhales slowly.

Fuck it.

"What are the limits?" she asks simply. Before joining the Outsiders, Ravager would have not thought twice about making this a long, drawn-out, bloody event. Those memories, those feelings, all come rushing back now.

"I'm assuming you want him to stay alive."

Flatline has posed:
    "I think that's where I come in --" comes an additional voice. Flatline is in a puffy vest, sunglasses and hoodie, and carrying a four-some drink carrier with boba -- pink strawberry milk tea with strawberry bubbles, a tropical with mango, a mint with chocolate boba and one is missing, because it's in her other hand, and she throws her arms up.

    "Sup Besties!" she greets the two assassins with her typical flippant attitude, and then gets serious.

    "For real though. There's a good chance I can help if things go south or you need the info on the quick. I just call 'not dibs' on disposing of the body." she explains. She has a Pomeranian with a Jack Skellington bow-tie sticking out of her vest under her chin. "This is Benji. He's part of the squad now."

    Meanwhile inside, Saif Hassan was tied up, in a corner of a shack in Slaughter swamp. He was trying to keep his panicked breathing down, his head in a cloth bag that let in muffled sound and little light.

    He gives whispered words as he pushes himself up into his corner, wearing tactical pants and a thermal shirt. His body armor had been stripped off and left in a heap to the side, and he's been struggling to get his wrists free to escape the house he woke up in.

Damian Wayne has posed:
No, it's not the life Ravager leads now. Nor is it the path that Robin ever embraced. That's why there's no Robin here at the present. Just the Prince of al-Ghul, with his twin jubiyias, as Ravage asks the two biggest questions of the evening.

Damian's green eyes find Rose's behind the mask. "Nothing's off the table, as long as I get my answers. Question one. What's his connection to Cupp? Question two, what did he kill Phoebe with? She's a metahuman with hyperfast healing, yet was able to defeat that and drowned her to prevent her own abilities from kicking in. Question three, why were they using metahumams to manufacture the pills that they're using?"

As Flatline arrives, there's a glance towards the skull-faced meta. "You will not need to worry about disposing of the body, if it comes to that." he comments dryly to the young woman.

An unearthly moan carries through the swampland, one of despair, frustration, and unforgiven anger. "This is Grundy's swamp. We will need to be quick." And with that, he opens the door, and before Saif can say anything or even try to speak around the ball gag in his mouth, Damian grabs him by the shoulders and hefts him up. "Time for a talk."

With that, he drags the man bodily through the model home, it's furnishings dated to the late nineties as he drops him into a molded recliner in the living room and starts the process of pulling off his hood, and then unstrapping the ball gag. If Saif as much as spits at him, the back of Damian's hand comes across his face. "I told you you were going to answer some questions."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson slips in quickly behind Da-... Prince al Ghul. She moves quickly and smoothly, like a predator, and like a predator she doesn't say anything as he unhoods and ungags the prisoner.

Ravager waits for Damian's hand to fall, then she starts a conversation of her own. There are still no words, and no hesitation as Ravager draws a sword and lunges smoothly. The swords are her weapons of choice whenever finesse is required, like it is now. She knows just where to strike, and once the point pierces deeply into the shoulder joint she gives the blade a little twist to separate the sinew.

"Hi." she greets, leaving the sword in the wound. "First question: What is your connection to Cupp? Answer quickly."

Flatline has posed:
    Flatline follows behind Ravager, taking up a perch on a coffee table with some long dead flowers, and just smiles creepily. Her speciality was The Dead, and hey, this guy will probably give her some information.

    Saif is momentarily blinded to the light, struggling, wincing. He's slammed against the molding chair (HOW unsanitary), and he gives a harsh cry out as the sword pierces his shoulder.

    "AH GOD! I'm a campaign finance coordinator! Cupp found out I had a minor magic gift! He wanted me to scare someone into working with him. He insisted that we all take these packets saying it would increase our power!" he sobs out "Please, my mother's at home -- she doesn't know where I am!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
As Rose steps in to apply the pressure, Damian touches her shoulder, to let her know to pull out the blade. This is for a simple reason. He shoves his thumb into the wound that Rose made and twists it, popping the shoulder out of joint and he holds it there.

After several moments of just holding his shoulder there at the terrible angle, he lowers his hand, taking the pressure off. "Scare who?" he asks.

It is here, that Damian turns his attention to Rose, a subtle nod of his head to her, to prompt her to make her next strike. "Which brings us to question number two..."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson pulls the sword out at Damian's silent request. She lifts her foot and glides it up between Saif's legs, the toe of her boot settling quite firmly against his groin. Firmly, but not painfully.

A subtle reminder that there are more tender areas than his shoulder, perhaps.

She touches the bloody sword point against his other shoulder, in the exact same spot. Yeah, he knows how it's going to feel. Light pressure. The skin slowly breaks. Blood begins to trickle. She leans in, ready to put her full weight behind the thrust.

"Question Two: How did you kill Phoebe? Be as specific as possible, and for extra credit tell us how you -knew- to kill her this way."

Flatline has posed:
    "OH GOD! OH GOD NO! PLEASE! I WAS PROMISED -- some chick! Cupp was terrified of being assassinated by some punks! He wanted her to work for him but she was always around other people! They wanted to force her to take the same enhancement pills!" Saif cries out, the shoulder disjointed and purposefully parted painfully as possible.

    The sword goes through his flesh. It peirces his skin, down into the shoulder joint like parting out a farm animal for the butcher, and Saif screams, finally.

    "I DON'T KNOW! The sword was supposed to pass through things! I don't know how it killed her! I didn't make it! I didn't make it! It was provided to us by PsyOp and some shady business guy! I don't know him! Please -- Oh God!" he cries out. "The sword was supposed to scratch or knock people out! It didn't work like it was supposed to!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Where is that sword now?" Damian says, but growls. "I warned you about lying." It doesn't matter if he feels he's telling the truth, the evidence does not match. "The sword did more than just scratch or knock her out. How did you know to drown her?"

"And who ripped out your fingernails?" he adds, the question coming to him as he doesn't move this time, he doesn't ask Ravager to remove the blade.

"Flatline, you said you get glimpses post-mordem? Could you answer that question?" He's pretty sure that may be a no, but that is more ploy to scare Saif with ghost-face girl than anything to do with abilities. Intimidation is a hell of a ploy.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson changes the angle of the sword a bit, lowering the hilt and giving a light twist to separate the joint with that casual shift. She remains quiet and waits for Damian to ask his questions before drawing her other sword with a slow *shing* of metal leaving the sheath.

Reversing the grip, she watches Saif's face as the point rests somewhat heavily on his groin. "Any preferences for the journey to the Underworld? I'm thinking we switch to either circumcision or castration next." she offers casually.

Flatline has posed:
    "Depending on how much trauma you inflict before hand sure! Usually I look for bank account information." Flatline states, and then sllluuuurrrrpped the boba. "Good thing I brought extras, right?"

    "I don't know! They're made of ash. THey touch blood they're supposed to fade away to ashes. I didn't make them! I didn't make -- oh... oh God -- was that the girl?! That was the girl he was after?! Cupp's going to kill me. Oh god he'll go after my mother --" Saif shakes, terrified at the questions. "There was a religious man! Some priest or something! He knew about the weapons! It was just our job to scare vigilantes off making more of the pills. The enhancement pills. They were spposed to start working. They never worked on Mary's abilities. Or Sonikka's. I thought they were working on mine! I thought I could see the god behind the man!" he squeals. "I don't know how it got this far! All I wanted was enough paycheck to make my mother comfortable! We were only supposed to scare them into obeying!" he cries out, the sword sticking out of his shoulder.

    He begins to foam at the mouth.

    Flatline tilts her head back, and looks off to the side - not offput by the violence, but her eyes narrow a moment.

Damian Wayne has posed:
A tap to Ravager's arm, now that Damian has the information that he needed. As she pulls out the sword, he grunts. "Right now, your mother and what Cupp is going to do to her is the least of your worries." he comments dryly.

Could he tell Saif that Cupp is in custody, driven to confession by Red Robin and Osprey? Yes. But why should he? Better to leave him wondering. "You fell for a snake oil salesman with delusions of his own self-importance and desires for young women to control. And you were complicit in that."

There is no mercy offered here. No sweetheart offer to turn him over to the authorities, or just stop what's happening. Instead. "Where's the priest at? What is his place of operation?"

And then. "Question number three."

Rose Wilson has posed:
"What flavors do you have left?" Rose casually asks Flatline, without taking her eye off of their trembling captive. She withdraws the sword from his shoulder, letting him bleed a little instead as the edge of the pain dulls. She leaves the other sword point-down on the man's groin, resting most of its weight in that tender area. It's enough for him to feel the pressure, but not enough to part fabric or break the skin.

A reminder. An implied ending to this little drama.

"Question Three: Why were you using metahumans to manufacture the packets?"

The free sword swings lightly in her hand, then she rolls her wrist and brings it down with a whistle of steel followed by a *thunk* of the blade biting the arm of the chair. Saif's little finger falls to the floor. "Nine more to go. Talk fast."

Flatline has posed:
    "I don't know. I don't know. He comes in at weird times. He stays for a few minutes and then leaves. He only ever spoke with Cupp and PsyOp! AH GOD He spoke with me once and told me he knew I was blessed! That was it!" Saif insists and then he screams again, his hips pulling back against the chair before he loses his finger. It twitches on the ground a moment as his arm flails out, splashing the area with blood.

    "BECAUSE THEY USE METAHUMANS TO STOP THEM!" he yelps out. "Bats and metahumans, so they hired metahumans to counteract them and if I didn't participate Cupp said he would deport my mother!" he cries out, the pain almost unbareable between his wounds.

    "Uh... strawberry strawberry, mint with chocolate, and black tea with tapioca. I figured Assassin Man here might like that one better, he didn't gimmie a preference. You want the strawberry one?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
There's no emotion from Damian as Ravager takes off a finger. Just an impassive look that reflects the cold dead stare in those usually vibrant green eyes. It's as if he's checked out and going on a different level.

"<<You don't have much time left to save your life, Saif Hassan.>>" spoken in perfect Arabic, he continues, "<<For I am the vengence for the life you have taken. Your thirty-seven virgins will be thirty-seven incels and you will be their virgin.>>" he snarls darkly.

"Tell me everything you know about PsyOp. And who the man in the crane was."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Rose Wilson sheathes one sword and catches that flailing, bleeding hand by the wrist, slapping it back down onto the arm of the chair. The girl *might* weigh a buck-twenty, soaking wet, and she HOLD the panicked, adrenaline-stoked man's hand down with just her firm grip on his wrist.

The other, bloodied sword is held at the ready over his wounded hand. "We ready for the lightning round, then? I've got four here and five on the other side before we go for the privates." She turns and looks to Damian, smirking a little.

"Oh, and definitely the strawberry for me. Good call, by the way."

Flatline has posed:
    <<WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! I don't remember! I took a job to pay for my mother! I got offered extra duties and Cupp turned it against me! PsyOp is the one beyond the scare tactics. PsyOp wanted us all to eat the pills and manufacture more! I don't know -- I don't know -->> Hassan replies, crying out as he begins to bleed worse. <<He's a brain. He made all the plans. I don't know what they all were! We showed up, we did our jobs, we left until we got arrested, and they still managed to give us the pills in the jail!>> Saif cries out.

    Flatline seems distracted. She slurps her boba, and pops a couple of the pearls.

    "Hey I mean, I know my boba buddies, right?" she states nonchalantly, to highlight to Saif how little anyone cares about his problems.

    <<There wasn't anyone in the crane! It was empty when I went up there to check it!>>

    Of course, if those pills were the same impressionable, fear-toxin laced ones that Sewell was giving to the university students... Saif might not have been in full command of his body.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Outside, there's a loud, guttural moan. And it's much closer than it was before. Damian glances up, and he takes the information that Saif offers to him. He doesn't accept the boba that Flatline offers, it would require him to pull down his mask.

"Where is PysOp?" Comes the demand. He slams his hand into Saif's chest, enough to knock the breath out of him. "<<Ya kalb*!!>>" he snarls. "<<Ya zebala**! Yikhreb beitak***!>>" And then, once he has that out of his system, he growls, eyes narrowed as he waits for the answer of those questions, fists curled up ready to strike again.

* You dog!
** You piece of trash!
*** Allah destroy your home!

Flatline has posed:
    Flatline doesn't worry about it. He'll get to it eventually.

    <<I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW HIS MOVEMENTS!! Please don't -- please my family -- they have nothing to do with this!>> Saif cries out, weakened now as he's beaten, wheezing for breath, blood shining in the black of his thermal shirt. "I don't know any more, I don't know - I'm dying, please... please... have mercy!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
And just like that? It stops. He pulls away from Saif. And he holds Ravager by the shoulder, telling her what she needed to know. "Sticking around?" he asks Flatline. Because he knows how her powers work.

"I am not going to go after your family. And I will show you mercy. I will not kill you." Because finally, he comes back to that promise he made to his father. That he would not take a life.

Instead. He just looks dispassionately down upon Saif. "Allah have mercy." he grunts as he turns to walk away.

He's not going to kill Saif.

But he sure as hell doesn't have to save him from what's coming.

Outside the home, in the moonlight, the shadow of the large, massive, hulking form of Solomon Grundy is cast upon the wall of the home - the noose hanging loosely from his neck.