19043/New kid in Gotham

New kid in Gotham
Date of Scene:	09 September 2024
Location:	Old Gotham - Founders Island
Synopsis:	Jacen takes the wrong turn in Gotham and meets a Bat family member for his trouble.
Cast of Characters:	Jacen Knight, Barbara Gordon

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Jacen Knight has posed:
Gotham City. While he was brought in to cover a shift at a local hospital, before leaving he cleaned up and changed. Maybe the genuine cowboy look in the heart of such a town isn't the best choice, but he is what he is.

He has bag over his shoulder that likely has clothes in it since it doesn't appear to weigh much. He pushes his hat back a little and turns down a street. He looks around and mutters a soft curse as he looks to be lost by all appearances.

Lucky him, there are some rarely upstanding citizens around and a few that should be in prison for worse. Naturally he draws attention and a pair of gang bangers notice him. If he notices them, he doesn't sohw it yet. Instead he touches the strange pouch on his belt and almost seems to stare into nothing for a moment.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Jacen may or may not realize it, but a black drone zips by over head, and in doing so it picks up on the possible situation developing. The drone vanishes over a building, before it returns from the south and moves through the dark sky with a near-silent thrum of its propellers.

Not too far away, Batgirl stands atop a building, monitoring all of the drones in her network. Adorned in her black and gold armored Bat-suit, the redhead's green eyes are on the glowing wrist computer mounted to her left forearm.

She glances toward the video that shows the man, who may be hitting the radars of some nefarious types, and through it, the Batgirl has a frown momentarily touch her lips.

"Keep an eye on that." Babs quietly tells her AI that controls the drones.

Jacen Knight has posed:
While he doesn't look at them, there is an instant when they know he knows. His voice is a little distant as he offers,"Somehow I don' think y'all's th' welcome wagon. How 'bout givin' all of us a break'n jus' walk off."

The two look at each other, then at him. They blink, like trying to discern a foreign language or something. He moves his hand to the feather in his hat and for those with spirit sight first spirit bat flutters through the night. Then a spirit eagle flies over. If he notices Batgirl looking over he doesn't show it. Instead he turns towards the men approaching.

Unlike the bat before, the eagle soars over the area and Jacen eyes the two approaching. Of course there are four more just across the street so they aren't forgotten.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Well that is certainly interesting." Batgirl quietly said, as she continued to monitor that situation a few buildings over from where she was standing, one golden yellow boot upon the ledge of the rooftop, the other bearing her weight. Her cape gently moved in the night time wind, its black and gold fabric making whispery noises as it rustled behind her shoulders.

Overhead of Jacen, a second Bat-drone floated high above, likely too far up to be easily noticed, and too quiet to be caught by ears.

"Try to ID the faces, if you can, Oracle." She tells her AI, as she starts to turn to her left, to walk down the ledge of the building, her cape billowing out behind her as she moved.

Jacen Knight has posed:
The two start the usual street thug banter about the cowboy being lost and having to pay to find his way out. Jacen sets his jaw and shakes his head,"Ya see that, here I thought I left New York b'heind las' night." His hand reaches up to touch the bone necklace around his neck. The next spirit animal to appear is a massive bear, standing on its back legs and roaring silently into the ether.

Since his attention is moved to the thugs approaching, the eagle fades into the night. A touch of his hatband a large spirit rattlesnake rises up. The tail shakes, but there is no sound. The two men don't seem to notice anything happening.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
As it so happened, Batgirl was close enough to get to the building that loomed over the side street that Jacen was making his way down. She was standing 3 stories above where the thugs were harrassing the man, and through it she simply watched.

But not for long, as she could hear their taunts, and she wished to de-escalate the situation.

As such, the thugs would notice something fall from the roof above, and when they looked skyward, they would see a tall Bat standing there, a silhouette of one of Gotham City's vigilante guardians. She was sending a message down to the would be nare-do-wells, to let them know that one of the Bats was watching. She knew the men of Gotham well enough to know they likely would not be as intimidated by her as they would be by Batman, but she was 3 stories up, which did offer some measure of hopeful disuading of their current chosen paths.

"No ID on the man, seems to be a tourist." The AI told Babs, as she glanced at her wrist monitor, her face bathed in a dim blue glow.

Jacen Knight has posed:
The two squaring with the cowboy don't notice the bat, but the others notice and suddenly seem far less interested in their friends. Instead they look any direction other than where they are.

Likely unaware, Jacen doesn't see up above. The first one strikes, he moves aside /way/ faster than he should be able to. Another swing, another dance to the side without any trouble. He grabs the aggressor and lifts him off the ground without any trouble and puts the body between him and the other thug for a moment to take the heat off. A quick shake rattles the one he is grappled with.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Providing a bit of a obvious presence often worked with most of Gotham's youthful thugs. Most of them were just living a life of trying to appear 'hard' in front of their friends. Most of them were just bored, and looking for something to do. It was rare to get some that really were up for comitting major crimes, and though Babs had scuffled with many over the years, she knew that most could be scared off pretty easily.

Of course, it was different for her. She was treated diffrently than Batman, and as such she did not like getting in to close quarters combat, unless she had to. She believed in her tech, that it could break up most situations without having to put herself at risk. That was her role in all of this, develop technology to make this world a better place. The Tech Knight, as she was lovingly refered to by some within her sphere.

When the scuffle started, something else arrived.

The whole city block shook, as a engine roared to the east, coming from an alleyway. Bright flood lights poured out of the alley, as a sleek armored vehicle appeared, its powerful engine roaring like a angry dragon, as it rattled the windows in evry building along the street.

Jacen Knight has posed:
The roar of the engine gets the attention of the man not grappled and he turns to look at it. That is the moment Jacen needs to toss his current playmate into the second thug. The two go down in a pile of arms and legs.

Now some cowboys might fight for the sake of fighting, but instead the bear and the rattlesnake vanish after he collides the two men. He touches something in the pouch on his side. A large deer of some sort appears in the spirit realm and he takes advantage of whatever distracted them to take off at an excessive speed. Nothing like the flash, but fast.

He turns left and races down the alley, not stopping for two blocks, then turns right. He slows down and the deer vanishes as well. Pausing at a light pole, he leans for a few moments doesn't catch his breath so much as leans hard on it to gather himself a little,"Need ta watch'm Masters. Almos' stayed connected too long."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Jacen is left to recover for a few moments. Only the city ambience around him, as he gathers his wits, and his breathing evens out.

"Are you injured?" The sudden soft voice of a female asks from the alleyway. When he should turn to look, he may not see her at first, but soon he will come to notice the outline of a figure, and as she steps forward, he'll see a golden bat logo upon an armored chest plate of black, along with gold boots, and a black and gold cape. Her bat mask covering her face, with tall pointed ears atop her helmeted had, and autumnal red locks coming out the back of her head piece.

She stands just inside the alley, still bathed in shadows.

Jacen Knight has posed:
Standing up again, Jacen turns his attention towards the voice. One hand reaches for the necklace on reflex, but once his eyes adjust and he sees the bat in the darkness he turns his back to the light pole and leans again,"I'm ah'ight. Jus' kinda worn out. Been a while since I tried ta do that much all't once." he explains.

He considers for a long moment and admits,"I've heard o' th' Gotham bat'n th' family. I'm guessin' you brought in th' car'n caused th' others ta be less inclined ta try somethin'."

He finally reaches up and tips the brim of his hat towards the shadow and offers,"Jacen Master. NY fire'n rescue 'mong other things. Thank ya f'r makin' a hole f'r gettin' me outa that mess."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
From the shadows, the Bat figure watches him. He'd see the outline of her face only masked from the nose up, with her eyes peering out from behind it. At his words, Batgirl nodded her had gently once. "My family and I are sworn to protect the people of this city," she quietly replied, her voice barely audible as she was keeping it so, which gave her a bit of an ethereal edge. Her cape was gently moving around her armored figure, as she stood otherwise motionlessly.

"You are a long way from home..." She added. "This part of the city gets dangerous at night. I would suggest making your way to the El-train to get somewhere safer soon..."

Jacen Knight has posed:
Checking the bag on his shoulder, Jacen nods,"You're family's pertty well known th' world over." he muses,"I know some folks don' appreciate it, bu' those that matter do. Again, thanks f'r coverin' my a...backside."

A nod and he adds,"I found where I left m' truck. Gotta 'bout three blocks up'n I'll be movin'. I'm a long way fr'm original home'n far fr'm where I call home now's well. You're right. I agreed ta cover a few shifts at Gotham General since th' city seems ta be rough on fire'n rescue."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
She hadn't given him a name, but that probably wasn't too surprising considering her theatrics she's putting on. Theatrics that go hand in hand with this city, he would likely have noticed. Her cape continued to gently move around her form, as she stood just inside the mouth of the alley, just barely inside the shadow that stretched away from it, from the large lit-up sign that adorned the building's front facade.

"I'll have a drone follow you to your truck, to make sure you're safe." She quietly said, her stare remaining locked on his face.

"We treat our emergency service mn and women with respect. Most of us, anyway." She had a personal connection to them, which is obvious to those who know her outside of the cape and cowl. "Thank you for your service." she added in that whispery soft voice.

Jacen Knight has posed:
Knowing when he's been given the move along, Jacen's mouth curls at the left corner a little and he nods. Reaching up, he tips his hat to the shadowy woman,"Much obliged f'r th' cut in on that dance back there."

He looks up for the drones, but only for a moment. After that, his attention moves to her one last time,"Emergency services appreciates y'r treatment. This one f'r sure." With that he starts to go, adds,"Thank ya f'r your service. I'm sure you get thanked less th'n I do."

Whether he has a clue of her identity or not, he doesn't comment. Instead he leaves the introduction from himself to her on the air and starts back in the direction of where he parked the truck. Helpful critter that spirit eagle.