18351/Heat Wave in Gotham

Heat Wave in Gotham
Date of Scene:	17 June 2024
Location:	The Narrows - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	Rebound and Robin do a short patrol of the Narrows. Rebound's heart of gold almost gets him killed but manages to win the night anyway!
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Allen-James

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Damian Wayne has posed:
It's not even officially summer yet, but the temperatures have been in the 90s all day. A heat bloom has formed over the northeastern US, which means that it ain't gonna be cooling down at night. Hot days lead to hot nights lead to a lot of cranky people in the Narrows tonight.

Robin likes heights. He prefers to start his patrols up high, so he led AJ to a rooftop of one of the apartment buildings. He is decked out in full Robin armor tonight and just in case they encounter any of the vampires that have been plaguing Gotham he also has two katanas on his back.

"This could get real dangerous tonight, AJ," Robin intones solemnly. And as if to punctuate that statement, a gunshot rings out from somewhere. "The cops won't even come here at night."

Allen-James has posed:
    AJ is back in his Rebound costume, the long flowing white robe/hoodie, bound at his neck over a sleek black set of clothes, which show off how muscled he's gotten. He's got a sword himself, the saber he used against the Vamps as well, though the lack of borrowed bat armor is obvious. He looks out over the Narrows, considering things for a while.

    He doesn't look certain of himself. He's wearing the mask he wore for the Vampire thing, which conceals his eyes, but his lips are tugged into a frown. He's got this, right? Getting shot would be bad, but he's got this. Just don't let them see you coming.

    "I'm ready. I'm Rebound." he reminds Robin with a bit of a forced smile.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Rising from his squatting position like a silent, fluid shadow, Robin moves to the edge of the rooftop. "You got this. Just remember that it's dog politics down there. The most committed wins. We should probably start small, maybe.."

Robin is interrupted by a sudden commotion below. A woman and her daughter of no more than 10-12 years of age are trying to get inside the apartment complex but a group of men are blocking their way.

"Bitch, I need that money tonight!"

"I ain't got no money for you tonight. I don't have it."

"Fine then, I'm gonna hold on to her 'til you get it."

The man who is speaking reaches out and grabs the girl by the hair. She screams and starts crying.

"I guess we're starting with this," Robin says sternly as he jumps off the three-story rooftop. It's too short a distance to even bother with a Bat line. He activates a circuit in one of his gauntlets, which releases an electric current into his cape, making it take on a more solid texture. He uses it as a sort of impromptu parachute as he lands right behind the men.

"Hey, there," Robin says with a small wave. He pops open the pouch on his utility belt in which he carries emergency cash. A thick wad off 100-dollar bills can be seen. "Tell you boys what, if you can get this money it's all yours."

All four of the men pull out 9mm pistols. "It's baby fuckin' Batman. And he brought us some money. Take him alive, boys, Maroni will pay top dollar for him if he's still alive."

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound's nerves vanish as he sees the men below. He marks them in his mind, picking out the one furthest from Robin's descent. He doesn't have any fancy bat cape. No bat line, or anything. All he has is the ability to redirect his momentum, so he counts to three, and gets to see all of these gentlemen pull out pistols. But they're focused on Robin.

    Which means they're not looking up, where they should be. Rebound falls like an angry comet, his hood flapping back, as he just... leaps off face first. He doesn't break his momentum until he's nearly on top of the guy he's picked out to be his first vic... target. First target.

    He slaps the air, which leaves a glowing handprint, and he flips around, a glowing foot coming down on the man's right shoulder with a sound that involves far more snaps than is healthy for anyone's bones. The repulsion of the shield around his foot breaks his momentum further, and shoots him back up again, and he shifts his weight to kick at a second man's chest before the first one is fully aware that his shoulder and collarbone have been shattered into kindling sized slivers.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Despite the fact that there are multiple attackers here all armed with guns, Robin grins as he watches Rebound fearlessly take on two men. He jerks his head in Rebound's direction and says in a surprisingly conversational tone to the guy who wanted him taken alive, "He's my...he's my boyfriend. Pretty dope, huh?"

But now is the time for business. There is a flow of movement as Robin spins through the two remaining gunmen. An elbow flashes here, a knee there. It's the sort of martial arts that comes from hours upon hours of training day after day, year after year. Moments later both men are lying on the ground groaning, holding various injuries, and the parts of their disassembled guns litter the ground.

"Ma'am," Robin says with a flourish of one arm gesturing toward the apartment building. The mother and her daughter run inside.

"That dude's what we call reaching for his gun, Rebound," Robin says, gesturing toward one of the two men on the ground closest to Rebound. One of them is weakly reaching for his weapon about two feet from where he is lying.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound landed awkwardly after the kick to the chest drove more than air out of the poor gang member. He'd have felt bad about it if the man hadn't pulled a gun on Robin.

    He watched Damian move with more than a little admiration and jealousy. Some day, he'd be that good, he promised himself. Five years. Five years if he's focused enough. Of course, his focus is on Damian at the moment, not at the guy with broken ribs sprawled two feet away where the kick had knocked him, groping out for a gun that he'd more or less left dangling in the air when he went flying.

    Situational Awareness. His big weakness. He had this bad habit of assuming anyone he kicked with a glowing shield wasn't going to get up. While it was more or less true, the laxness needed correction. He stepped over, without a shield on his foot, and punted the guy in the head to knock him out fully.

    "They do know it's /harder/ to take you alive once they pull guns, right?" he asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm and disdain, as he moves to collect the two guns, and eject rounds and clips, tossing the bodies one way, bullets another. He wears gloves, at least, so that's not even contaminating the crime scene that much.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Crime scene, schmime schmene. No cops are entering the Narrows at night for something this petty. Within this current context, Robin and Rebound /are/ the law here. These guys were just found guilty and the sentence was a beatdown. Case closed. Next case.

"Do you like Slushies?" Robin asks as he starts walking in the direction of the 7-11 across the street.

Allen-James has posed:
    "Slushies? Oh, yeah, sure. I like mine blue." Rebound answers, adjusting the lay of his robe, and pulling his hood back up to cover more of his face as he follows along.

    "Is it always like that? Guns pulled and then suddenly us?" he asks, a little unsure about how he feels about that. On the one hand, he's not sure how he'd fare if there were more of them, or if they were.. you know.. better. But at the same time, it felt like punching down a little. The vampires had felt better. More equal. But he knows he couldn't take them without that armor he borrowed.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Robin casually loops one arm around Rebound's shoulder as the two walk toward the 7-11. He seems so...laid back, like he's walking around a friendly neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon or something.

"First off, there is no way in hell we're drinking Slushies from that skankhole, absolute shitshow of a 7-11. We're going over there because that guy with the gray hoodie is about to rob the place."

Should Rebound look, he might notice a nervous-looking young man in a gray hoodie with the hood up and both hands in the pockets.

"Second off," Robin continues. "Yeah it's like that a lot. We can go back and ask that lady and her very underage daughter if they think things were handled unfairly, if you want to. I mean, if it will help you sleep better tonight."

The pair arrive outside the front door of the store just as gray hoodie is pulling out a battered old .357 magnum. Robin whistles. "That's a serious piece of hardware." He claps Rebound on the butt and says, "Go get him. You got this. I'll wait out here in case anybody shows up and wants an autograph."

Allen-James has posed:
    "Seriously old." AJ mutters with a shake of his head. Still, he feels even worse about this one. He never did it this stupidly, but he's robbed a few places. Boosted some cars. He walks into the store, keeping one hand in his pocket, one hand out in front of him, and glowing.

    He manages to get surprisingly close, before he ruins it all, by deciding to talk it out.

    "Hey man." he greets, his voice calm. "I have some bad news for you. You had some bad luck tonight. How bout you put the gun down, and I let you leave." he offers calmly, trying to talk the robber out of this. "Otherwise, things get messy, and you end up needing a cast for that arm." he threatens boldly.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Maybe...maaaaaybe...if AJ wasn't so small-framed that approach might have had a snowball's chance in hell of working. Maybe. And if it wasn't the Narrows in Gotham. Yeah, so maybe.

Gray hoodie starts turning to bring the gun to bear on Rebound. "You the one got unlucky, boy," the attacker mutters.

"Shit," Robin says as he sees AJ /not/ employing dog politics like he was told to. He burst into motion to run into the 7-11 but he isn't going to get there in time. AJ is about to live or die by his own abilities.

Allen-James has posed:
    The problem, Rebound reflected, was that he was too nice. At least the gun was swinging away from the guy behind the counter, who was already ducking.

    Rebound was trying to be nice. But he was also not stupid. He'd picked where to start talking to the guy very carefully. As the gun started to turn towards him, he leaned forward, and a shield powered lunge took him across the twenty feet as if it was a simple five. His small frame, the angle of the lunge, and the angle of the gun means that when the kid pulls the trigger, the bullet flies well over AJ's head.

    It's so fast, it's almost like lightning. Standing and talking one second, the next, his shield arm is punching up under the guy's armpit, and half knocking the hoodie wearing thug over the counter. A knee follows up to the guy's head as he comes down, Rebound leaping off the ground to knock the thug out. It's not skillful. It's not graceful. But it is /fast/. Rebound is nothing if he's not fast.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Gray hoodie doesn't stand a chance. And the thugs around these parts aren't accustomed to supers operating in Gotham. Batman does a pretty fair job of chasing the supers away from his town. Even the Outsiders, lead by one of Bruce's sons, have very limited permission to operate in Gotham. So yeah, gray hoodie flops unconscious on the floor behind the counter. The clerk just blinks and says, "Holy shit."

Robin comes bursting into the store but by the time he's inside the show is over. His mouth is curved in a frown and he does not look at all pleased right now. He points at Rebound. "You. With me. Now." He turns and storms out to the parking lot.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound doesn't look happy himself. He's standing over the thug, trying to figure out how that could have gone differently, when he turns and sees Robin looking like a thundercloud. Yeah, he probably deserves that.

    He scoops the magnum up, carrying it with him outside, where he empties the cylinder into the trash can, and chucks the gun aside as well. Gun safety. Make sure every gun around you is unloaded.

    "I know, I know, I shouldn't have tried to talk him down. But... He was.. I was.. A year ago, that could have been me.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Spinning around to face Rebound with fire in his eyes, Robin's nostrils flare. "I am so pissed at you right now," he exclaims as he lunges in and fiercely kisses Rebound. He pulls back. "If you had gotten shot I would have killed you my damn self." He sighs and starts to pace around the parking lot.

"We're not here to rehabilitate people, man. This is fucking /Gotham/, in the Narrows, at night. If you want to rehab people go be a social worker."

It's very obvious that Robin is experience a level of fear that he is unaccustomed to feeling.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound freezes as he's kissed, all his speedy reflexes not ready for that now, here. He stiffens, before he sighs, and frowns some more. He's quiet for a long minute, before he asks, "Do you know why I was playing a violin when you met me, and not sneaking into people's windows and stealing shit?"

    He doesn't wait for an answer. He touches his shoulder.

    "I got shot. I mean, someone shot at me, and hit one of my shields, and blew it the fuck up, and threw me half way across the block. I woke up in a dumpster, pretty sure I was dead. That moment, that whole thing, changed everything. It wasn't a fucking game any more, me and my boys boosting cars, or ripping off a liquor store. It was me, alone, about to die. So I got the fuck out of the dumpster, found the Doc to set my leg, and swore that I'd use my powers for something better. That guy in there? That's me before I got shot. Maybe... I don't know. Maybe I can't save him. Maybe I just did. Maybe next time, the kid walks away and gets to try something new without getting a fucking concussion. I don't know. But I know I had to try, man. That idiot was me. Desperate, hungry, just looking to score so he could get some fucking food and maybe some booze to make the night suck less.

Damian Wayne has posed:
It's difficult to see behind the lenses of his domino mask, but Robin is blinking quickly and repeatedly as he peers at Rebound. His harsh tone of voice settles back to that crisp, clear, soft way that Damian normally speaks. "C'mon, let's...let's go home," he urges. He stands there waiting to see what Rebound is going to do. It's clear that he's not telling AJ it's time to go, he's urging him to leave. And once again the little lion tames the demon.

Allen-James has posed:
    Rebound sighs, and nods, walking close, and reaching out. He doesn't quite touch Damian, just.. reaches out to him. "I... Thanks.. For being scared for me. I was pretty scared for me too, when he started to aim at me." he admits softly.

    "But.. Yeah... Home sounds good." he says, walking over to a corner near the edge of a building, and hopping up, using glowing footsteps to bound himself up to the rooftop.