19241/What's Black and White and Red All Over

What's Black and White and Red All Over
Date of Scene:	07 October 2024
Location:	Gotham Gazette Printing Presses
Synopsis:	Lois was kidnapped from Bruce Wayne's party by the Riddler! Fortunately for our intrepid reporter, Batgirl was on the scene to rescue her!
Cast of Characters:	Lois Lane, Barbara Gordon

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Lois Lane has posed:
As Lois departs Bruce Wayne's birthday party, she's all smiles. "We'll talk soon!" she promised the Diana and Cassie. With her rounds made and the evening growing late, she checks her phone. Clark is... well, there's someplace in the world where he's needed. So she sets up an Uber for herself to go to the Hyperloop.

Saying her goodbyes, she steps out into the chilly night air to wait for her ride. She should have drove. But Clark wanted to fly her in. Sigh. It was a sweet gesture.

A black sedan pulls up in front of the Gotham Royal, its headlights cutting through the evening air. The vehicle comes to a quiet stop. Lois checks her phone for the driver's info, glances up, and sees a man in his early forties behind the wheel, smiling at her. His eyes seem eager, but she dismisses it as nothing unusual.

The window rolls down, and the driver leans over. "Miss Lane? Heading to the Hyperloop station?"

Lois nods, slipping her phone into her bag as she approaches the car. She's used to Gotham's rhythm and doesn't waste time. She opens the door to settle into the back seat and as the door closes, there's the click of a lock being engaged.

"Big fan of your work," the driver says, his tone steady. "I've followed your career for years. But today I have a story for you, I have one for you, what happens when the one seeking answers becomes the puzzle herself?"" The sedan takes off into the Gotham night.

The Riddler's voice crackles over the Bat-family's comms, his tone smug and teasing as always.

"Good evening, Gotham's dark knights and ladies. I hope you're all in the mood for a little brain exercise, because I've got a riddle for you. Now, listen closely."

I write without a pen, and speak without a voice. I tell stories of truth, yet I'm often a device. You search for me daily, though I'm not lost. But if you fail this time, the truth will come at a cost. Who am I?

"Tick-tock, Bat-brains. The clock is ticking. Miss Lane has been quite the inspiration for this little game, but if you can't solve this, well? let's just say her final story may go unwritten."

The line goes dead, leaving only silence and the countdown of time.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
There were days in Gotham City that were a lot more work than other days. the past 24 hours had been one of those periods for Barbara Gordon. Last night, there had been a major gang war outbreak at some of the river docks buildings that were owned by Oswald Cobblepot. Batgirl, and the Red Hood had responded to the outbreak of violence, mayhem, and even some forms of magic. Thankfully, neither of the would-be heroes had sustained any personal damage during that fight, but Batgirl's personal Batmobile had. Thus, she'd gotten home, and spent a fair amount of time working on her personal vehicle in the garage beneath the Gotham City Clocktower. She had been on the guest list for Bruce's party, but due to the incident at the dock, Batman had suggested she stay home, and just let Barbara Gordon be too busy to attend.

The damage to the Batmobile had been mostly superficial, though, just armor plates needing repair after rock impacts had ripped some off, or left others in a state of compromised condition.

Barbara was on the way back up to her penthouse apartment, when the call came in that Lois Lane was in trouble. The call came in across her Oracle AI computer systems, that automated the control of most of Batgirl's surveilence systems in this modern day of advanced artificial intelligence models. Babs' took pride in her personal AI assistant, and it was alerting her to the situation as she stepped out in to her Penthouse apartment.

"Find out where Lois was last seen. She was a guest at the Wayne Foundation event tonight, find out who saw her last, and where they are now too. Find out as much as you can about who talked to Lois at the event, and where she was last seen." Babs said, as she rushed toward her computer station on the northwest corner of the penthouse.

"Call the Airship in to port here at the Clocktower too." She spoke of her personal Gordon Green Energy Blimp, that was a few city blocks away, delivering some of its daily dose of solar energy reserves in to one of the city's skyscraper power stations.

At her personal computer terminal, Babs viewed the message from the Riddler, and raised her chin as she considered answers to the first puzzle from this madman. "Great..." She muttered.

"Let all available Bat-family members know what is happening. I'll be working up a number of possible answers to this, and we'll create a list of places it could lead to Lois' whereabouts, and get everyone sent out." She tells her AI computer, who responds with a soft voice, affirming everything that Batgirl had just requested.

In the distance, the GGE Blimp pulled away from port at a Gotham skyrise, and began to adjust its automated AI pilot course to take it back to the Historic Clocktower building.

"Hit me with all the info you have on Lois' last known connections, and location." Batgirl said, as she grabbed her suit gauntlet from its charging port on her desk, and slipped it on to her wrist, as she turned to walk toward the balcony doors, that would yield her access to boarding the Blimp when it arrived in mere minutes...

Lois Lane has posed:
As the information comes back to Batgirl, feeds from various cameras across Gotham share their information to impart the data that they have. Also, at the same time, she gets a hit from Lois's phone - her last activity was using a ride-share application that had sent out a driver to pick her up from the Royal Hotel. That driver's name was Elias Rebus. The license plate on the car is found and is tracked through the city, to Burnley, Gotham, and the abandoned printing presses and offices of the failed Gotham Gazette.

The abandoned printing presses of the Gotham Gazette are a monument to the city's faded glory. The cavernous room is filled with dust, the air heavy with the scent of rust and old ink. Massive, hulking machines loom in the darkness, their iron gears and rollers frozen in time, their surfaces chipped and scarred from decades of disuse. Cobwebs stretch across the towering columns and catwalks above, and the flickering lights of Gotham's skyline bleed through cracked windows, casting eerie, dancing shadows across the floor.

In the center of this industrial graveyard, Lois Lane lies chained to one of the gargantuan presses. Her arms are bound to the cold metal, and her legs are fastened to the machine's rollers, every link of the chains tight and unyielding. Above her, a large, rusted timer ticks down, its rhythmic clicking echoing ominously through the empty room. The machine is poised to restart, its crushing weight threatening to turn the hardened reporter into nothing more than a headline in tomorrow's paper-if the press ever runs again.

From the shadows, a soft laugh emerges, cold and calculating.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Lois Lane, the intrepid reporter. How's that deadline treating you?" The Riddler steps into the faint light, his green question-marked suit glistening in the dimness. He twirls his cane with theatrical flair, his voice dripping with mock sympathy. "You see, Lois, this is what happens when you ask too many questions. Though, I do appreciate your curiosity. A woman after my own heart, really."

He circles her like a vulture, his eyes gleaming with smug amusement. "But here's a puzzle for you to ponder while the clock ticks down. Solve it, and you might just get out of here with a few less bruises. Fail... well, the press will run. And you... will be the headline."

The Riddler leans closer, smirking as he conjures another riddle, his voice dripping with smug satisfaction.

"Ah, Lois, before I forget, here's something that's been burning in my mind, much like that little error in your last article. Remember? Let's see if you can puzzle it out:

I was caught in plain sight, yet you spun quite a tale.
Claimed I was elsewhere, and the details, they failed.
You wrote of a mansion, where shadows abound,
But missed the real spot where I never was found.
Where did you err, and what did I scheme,
That left your report as shoddy as it seemed?"

He chuckles darkly, watching for any flicker of recognition in her eyes. "Go on, Lois, jog that reporter's memory of yours. Or is the truth just too tricky for you to handle?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
When it came to dealing with Gotham City's most eccentric villains, there was often lines that you had to draw inside yourself, as a member of the Bat family. One of those lines, was not playing IN to their games. Yes, you wanted to hear the rules for the game, or the clues for said game, but you wanted to analyze them in a way that could put you on the outside of the proposed game itself. That was no easy feat, mind you, because the villains of Gotham City- the most notorious ones- were genius levels of insanity...

Barbara Gordon had been called a genius herself, though, and after getting the lead on the old printing press industrial building, she leapt out of the safety of her airborne dirigible, and utilized her extensive gliding suit skills to descend toward the location in question. maybe she was insane too?

The speed was considerable, and her aimed flight path was not the old printing press building itself, but one nearby it. As Batgirl soared through the night sky, with the edges of her rigid black and dark gold cape fluttering in the wind, she was moving at tremendous speeds, and all around her, she was joined by the flying forms of her Bat-drones. Each one was an extension of her Oracle AI computer, and each one was an aid to Barbara in different capacity. The flock of Bats, lead by Batgirl, descended toward that nearby structure, where Batgirl made her rapid landing, skillfully cutting her speed with trained movements of her cape, and ended up in a roll across the roof, that left her bounding up in to a sliding stop on her armored boots. She released a light exhale, and gathered her bearings, with her cape fluttering fully loose once more behind her shoulders.

Her left arm came up, her wrist glowing with a holographic computer system mounted upon her armored wrist. She began to issue her drones commands, and they fanned out around the printing press building across a service alley from Batgirl's current location.

She stalked forward on the roof, planting one foot on its edge, as she looked across the space to the building in question. Babs sent out a locale beacon to everyone within her team, letting them know her current whereabouts, and her current intentions, while her drones began to fly quietly around the building, their AI monitored camera systems taking in the sight of all prevalent information to an emergency entry point for the redheaded Gotham vigilante.

Once the proper entry plan was formulated, Batgirl crossed the space between the buildings, and began to enact her entry in to the printing press building...

Inside it, all around Lois' location, a loud reverberation echoed out through the building's interior... it was an intentional toppling of something extremely heavy, with the result being a noise so loud that it shook windows inside their crusty old frames.

Someone was here... but the Riddler probably expected that, didn't he?

Lois Lane has posed:
The loud crash reverberated through the cavernous, decaying halls of the abandoned printing press, shaking windows and rattling the very walls. Edward Nigma, the Riddler, visibly jumped, his trademark confidence momentarily shattered as a yelp escaped his lips. His eyes darted toward the source of the noise, and his hand flew up to adjust his hat, an unnecessary gesture to mask his unease. His smirk faltered as he whirled around, calling to his henchmen with a bark in his voice.

"You two! Go see what that was!" His cane pointed toward the direction of the sound as if compelling them forward with his command. "And be quick about it! I don't have time for any unforeseen guests!"

The two thugs, dressed in matching green and black, nodded stiffly before scurrying off to investigate. The dim light flickered as their heavy boots echoed down the corridor, their hesitation betraying the fact that they were about to encounter someone far more dangerous than an old, abandoned building.

Riddler's shoulders relaxed just slightly, but his grin soon returned, curling at the edges as he turned back to Lois, chained to the massive printing press, her breath coming in slow, deliberate bursts. Her eyes, once glazed with panic, now blazed with defiance.

"Oh, Lois," Riddler sighed theatrically, twirling his cane again as he leaned in. "Do you really think anyone's coming for you? I mean, after that wonderfully inaccurate article you wrote on me? Honestly, this whole debacle is your own doing. You should know by now that misreporting my capers has consequences."

But Lois, finally regaining her composure, raised an eyebrow and let out a chuckle, a dry, cutting laugh that stopped him in his tracks.

"Really, Riddler?" she said, her voice hoarse but dripping with sarcasm. "You've tied me to an old, rusted-out printing press because I misreported one of your riddles? Talk about overreaction. But I get it, Eddie. You've always had a flair for the dramatic, haven't you? Newsflash: No one cares about your riddles as much as you do. And I'm sending you my bill for this dress if you damage it. It's a van Dyne original!"

Riddler's grin faltered, his smug expression twisting into a scowl. He hated when she called him Eddie. She knew it. He stood up straight, rapping his cane against the floor in irritation.

"You'll care when that press starts up, Lois. The irony alone should make for an excellent headline!" His voice had a slight edge now, the veneer of cold arrogance cracking.

But Lois wasn't done. She tilted her head, mocking him with her tone. "Oh, sure. 'Daily Planet Reporter Squashed by Wannabe Game Show Host.' Real Pulitzer material. What's next, Riddler? You going to tie me to a crossword puzzle?"

"Silence!" Riddler snapped, the cane trembling in his grip. "You won't be so clever when the clock runs out!"

Lois smiled, her chains rattling as she shifted slightly. "Oh, I don't know. Looks like someone is already out of time."

From the shadows, there was another faint sound-a swoosh of fabric, the quiet hum of Batgirl's drones-and the Riddler's smirk faded once more, his eyes narrowing as the realization crept in. Batgirl was here. And his game was about to change.

"Well, Riddler," Lois continued with a grin, "you always did like a challenge. Let's see how you handle this one."

The two thugs make their way around the old machinery, searching for the source of the noise. They're armed with pistols, though they apparently did not expect for there to be much of a racket. "Riddler said that maybe one would respond to the dame."

"At least he shut her up before she could call to the guy in Metropolis."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The two gangster guards end up discovering that the source of the massive crashing noise was a massive iron gear that had been fastened to the wall of the building's front facade. Something had cut it loose from the building, and allowed it to fall flat upon the concrete just outside the main doors. As the two men would look out upon it, they'd see shadows moving around it, from some unseen light source, creating a dancing array of shadowplay just outside the front doors of the building, that dseemed do disperse and vanish from sight.

The drones continued to fly in set patterns around the exterior of the building, keeping high above the windows, their sleek black forms hard to discern with the naked eye against the backdrop of night outside.

With the Riddler, and Lois, exchanging words inside the building, their voices echoed off its interior walls, and as they fired back and forth at one another, another shadow slipped in to various places throughout the corners of the building, ebbing ever closer to the situation, to the form of the captured reporter, and her diabolical captor.

As Riddler was speaking, laying out elements of his insane scheme, and threatening Lois, another sound came from another corner of the same room. A little rolling noise, like someone had toppled over a glass jar.

Should the Riddler look to his left, a little black ball, about the size of a baseball, would come rolling across the floor toward the edge of the printing press machine. It stopped rolling, and nothing happened. It just settled itself down, and wobble back and forth quietly.

Silence fell over the building again, the sounds of the city muffled outside through the decaying walls, and crust covered window panes.

Lois Lane has posed:
Outside the Gotham Gazette, the two henchmen burst into the night, boots pounding the cracked pavement. Adrenaline pumped as they squinted at the shifting shadows under dim streetlights.

"Did you see that?" one muttered, stopping by the massive iron gear that had fallen. "Someone cut this loose."

The other nodded, eyes darting between the building and the street. Shadows danced and flickered, playing tricks on them. Drones hovered unseen above, blending into the night.

"What's that?" the second thug whispered, pointing to the shifting shapes. They'd thought it was a person, but now it seemed more like mist, leading them away from the building, deeper into Gotham's dark streets.

"Come on!" one yelled, charging toward the flickering shadows. His partner followed, confusion growing. They sprinted after what seemed like a figure, unwilling to admit they were being toyed with.

Drawn away from the building, the thugs disappeared into the night, leaving Riddler alone inside, unaware his backup had fallen for Batgirl's trick.

The Riddler's smug look faded as the small black ball rolled to a stop near the press. He straightened, eyes narrowing at the object, gripping his cane. The ticking of the timer now felt like a taunt.

Shifting into a defensive stance, he sneered, his mind racing to solve this new twist. Pointing his cane at the ball, he smiled coldly, spinning another riddle.

"Ah, a curious little sphere," Riddler mused aloud. "What rolls and wobbles but holds no threat? What lies still yet makes you sweat?"

He stepped forward, scanning the room. "I've no patience for games," he hissed. "Come out, or Lois here is tomorrow's obituaries."

Lois scoffed. "Really, Riddler?" She laughed, chains clinking. "What's next? A pinball machine?" She knew it wasn't Clark or Jon. They'd already show themselves. Whoever it is, they are toying with Riddler. Red Hood would have already smashed his face in. Maybe Red Robin? Spoiler would be already shooting comments back. She continues to narrow down who it could be.

Riddler's eyes twitched. "You won't be laughing when this press starts."

Lois, unfazed, continued. "It's almost sad. You think you're brilliant, but you're jumping at a little ball. Genius."

Riddler glanced at the ball again, unsure if it was a distraction or a real threat. Lois' mocking words gnawed at him, as the silence closed in. "Nnngh!" he snarled and using his cane like a golf club, he takes a swing at the sphere!

Barbara Gordon has posed:
There were three of the 12 drones in the sky, working to draw the Riddler's guards away from the building, two of them were creating the strange shadows with a play of lights, and elements of the physical environment around the printing press building. The third of the trio, was creating a cacophony of strange sounds from an audio output speaker, while it fluttered around in the sky, feigning damage to its flight systems. It came to eventually hit the pavement in the middle of an alleyway, as though it had been crashed by whatever strange activity was happening in the sky around it.

But as the two guards drew closer, the two drones still in the sky suddenly deactivated their lights, and shadow generators. They came to simply hover there, up near the apex of building wall meeting roof.

As the two guards drew closer to the injured drone, a single light blinked on its upper body surface, before the kite-sized drone rose up on small landing legs. A hatch popped open upon its upper body, and just before it revealed itself to the men, smoke pellets fell from the sky, falling from the underbellies of the drones still in the sky, while the drone on the ground began firing electro-stun darts at the two guards who'd left their boss behind!

Inside the warehouse, where the printing press equipment sat amongst a location left behind by time itself, the Riddler got to approach that strange black sphere, and even take a swing at it as though it were a large obsidian golf ball.

He got a satisfying crunch out of smacking it too, sending it hurtling across the room, and slamming in to a box that was peaked by old glass jugs. It all went crashing down, giving a very gratifying sense of having 'shown that thing who is boss around here!'

Of course, that sense of accomplishment in the moment, was marred by the sudden presence of a figure appearing behind the Riddler. With all signs of his guards taken care of, and nothing else coming up in the perimeter search that warranted fear for the Baggirl, she revealed herself to the Riddlerr by allowing him to walk right back in to her armored body, standing tall at 5'11", not counting the bbat ears, of course.

She was a sturdy object, and he just bumped right back in to her body encased in that protective gear.

"You will harm no one!" Batgirl's voice said to the Riddler, a second after he touched up against her. Her voice being heavily modulated by a vocalizer that took her normally soft feminine intonation, and morphed it in to something that sounded like a woman born of the depths of Hell itself. Her voice came across as pure demonic, and her eyes were covered over by glowing red slits, that stared directly at the Riddler.

She emphasized her declaration, by raising her gloved hands up to smash strength-enhanced fists right in to his chest, double punching the lanky man back toward some of the gnarly old printing press machinery.

The clock was ticking, but Batgirl was here, and clearly making her presence known to the villain now.

Lois Lane has posed:
The two goons slowed as they approached the downed drone, glancing nervously at each other.

"Something's not right," one of them muttered, eyes darting toward the sky where the other drones hovered. "This feels like a setup."

"Yeah, but we gotta check it out," the second one replied, though his voice betrayed his doubt. They edged closer to the drone on the ground, noticing its blinking light.

Just as they leaned in for a better look, the sudden pop of smoke pellets rained down from above, filling the alley with a thick, choking cloud. Both men started coughing, stumbling back in confusion.

"What the-!?" one shouted, waving the smoke away from his face.

Before they could react, the grounded drone sprang to life, its hatch opening with a mechanical whir. Electro-stun darts shot out, hitting both guards square in the chest. Their bodies convulsed as the shocks coursed through them, dropping them to the ground in a heap.

"Ugh, this ain't worth the pay!" one groaned before he lost consciousness.

The alley fell silent, the drones hovering above with their task complete, leaving the Riddler's backup sprawled and incapacitated.

The Riddler flinched as the black sphere clattered across the room, smashing into a pile of glass jugs. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the abandoned press, and for a fleeting moment, Edward Nigma felt a rush of triumph. He dusted off his gloved hands, smiling to himself.

"Well, look at that," he muttered, his voice dripping with smug satisfaction. "Turns out the ball wasn't so mysterious after all. Just another piece of Gotham's garbage, much like-"

His words died in his throat as he took a step back, only to collide with something or someone much more solid than he expected. He spun around, eyes widening as they met the glowing red slits of Batgirl's mask. Her presence loomed, dark and terrifying, her voice distorted into a demonic growl that sent a chill down his spine.

Her words chilled and shivered Riddler to the core. And he realized too late...

Before he could react, Batgirl's gloved fists shot forward, slamming into his chest with brutal precision. The force of the blow sent him hurtling backward, crashing into the rusted printing press machinery with a loud metallic clang. He groaned, clutching his ribs, momentarily stunned by the impact.

Lois, still bound to the press, smirked at the sight. "Well, Eddie," she drawled, her voice laced with amusement, "looks like your little game just got... canceled."

The Riddler, still gasping from the blow, shot her a venomous glare. "Shut up, Lane!" he snapped, wincing as he struggled to sit up. "You think this is over? I am the Riddler! This is far from over!"

The Riddler staggered to his feet, clutching his cane tightly as his mind worked frantically for a way out. He shot Batgirl a sly grin, desperation sharpening his tone.

"Time may tick, but answers lie.
Break the rules, and watch them die.
What moves without breath, but never stands still?"

With a sudden lunge, he hurled his cane at the timer. It hit with a sharp crack, shattering the fragile device in an explosion of sparks. The ancient machinery groaned to life, gears clanking and grinding as the massive rollers began to turn, pulling Lois slowly but steadily toward the crushing jaws of the printing press.

"Time's up, Batgirl!" Riddler shouted as he bolted for the door, his laughter echoing through the cavernous room. "Let's see if you're fast enough to solve this puzzle!"

Without a second glance, he sprinted toward his sedan parked outside, the screech of the press and Lois's chains filling the air as Batgirl faced the deadly trap now in motion.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
There was some element of Barbara that enjoyed the Riddler's riddles. They were brain teasers, and Barbara enjoyed a good brain teaser. She liked to think about the strange riddles that he said, and consider them versus his psychosis. But, when it came to dealing with them, in conjunction with actual Human life on the line, including her own? It quickly lost its appeal. She didn't have time for it, quite literally in this current case.

Though Babs did not know Lois Lane, she knew OF her, and she wasn't about to stand by and watch as the Riddler orchestrated the famous reporter's demise. As he made his escape, Babs reacted by rushing toward Lois. She quickly reached for the chains binding the woman to the machine's intake belt, and with a grimace, she glanced over her shoulder. She drew a batarang with her right hand, and raised her arm up high, as though she were zeroing in on the fleeing Riddler's knees... ready to throw it right at the back of the man's running sticks. But, with a hesitation, she turned and threw the batarang directly in to the mechanical maw of the munching machine, causing the steel batarang to get jammed up inside the crunching metal pistons, and rotating gears, creating a symphony of madness in audible sounds of metal grinding against metal.

Would it be enough to stop the large, old, machine? It didn't matter.

"Hold still." Batgirl told Lois, as she stood beside her, her left hand grasping the chains that wrapped around the woman, bundling them all in to a connected layer that allowed her to attack them all at once.

Batgirl's armored suit, of black and gold hues, was laced internally with a strength enhancing exo-skeleton. It allowed Babs to have strength much higher than the average Human, which allowed her much protection from high falls, or dangerous impacts.

But it also allowed her to bend metal, or break things she normally could not outside of the suit.

Right now? She whipped a device from her utility belt, and primed it with a whine of electrical servos charging up. She moved the gun in close to the bundle of chains, and began to hit them with a freezing blast, a technology born from the mad mind of Mr. Freeze himself.

Lois would feel shards of the ice pelting the sides of her exposed skin, as Batgirl was frantically freezing the chains, while her batarang was being chewed apart inside of the hungry printing press. She was freezing the chains as quickly as she could, as the precious seconds ticked by, before finally, she tossed the gun aside, and began to slam rapid elbows down upon the frozen chains with her right arm.

Smash, smash, smash, smash! Batgirl slammed her arm down repeatedly, until she felt a burning sensation in her shoulder, only to ignore it and deliver another trio of impacts before the chains would suddenly break apart in a cloud of frozen debris, and icy mist.

Without hesitating another second, Batgirl moved to grasp hold of Lois by her shoulders, and roll her free of the feeder belt, drawing her down on to the ground in a crouched position with the caped crusader!

"Are you hurt?" Batgirl asked, her voice still in that demonic growling intonation, as her eyes were no longer red, but now a natural green in shade, staring out from behind her black Bat cowl's mask.

Lois Lane has posed:
Rubbing her wrists where the chains had just been shattered, Lois considered the young woman that had just rescued her. She gave Batgirl a half-smile, wincing slightly as she stretched her sore limbs. "You know, I'm used to getting out of tough spots, but I think this one takes the cake," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "And no, not hurt... thanks to you. And saved from the Gotham stretchy workout."

She glanced over at the grinding printing press, the noise still grating on her nerves, then back at Batgirl. "So, Batgirl, was this all part of his plan? Let me guess: the real riddle is how I keep ending up in these situations. You Gotham types sure know how to keep things interesting."

She offers a slight smile. Her hands soothe over the sequined dress she was wearing and she makes a small face of disgust. "Janet is going to throw such a fit at me over this." she comments with a sigh.

"So, am I about to turn around and you're gone?" she asks as she realizes she's had her back to Batgirl while checking herself over. "Or do you actually stick around for genuine thank yous?" she asks as she turns back to face the green-eyed vigilante.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl helped Lois up to her feet, and did glance her over. she did not move, as Lois turned to regard the noisey machinery, and speak her thoughts on the situation that had just unfolded here tonight. The way that Lois spoke with a non-chalant demeanor about it all, indicated that the reporter had been around this block before. She had an eerie calmnness about looking face first in to the eyes of impending death, and seemed to show a surprising fortitude against showing it any weakness.

When Lois turned around, Batgirl was still there, staring right back at the Metropolis journalist. She moved, though, and stepped around the woman. Her eyes had been staring at the machine, just as much as at the woman. She had figured its intricate mechanisms out, to a degree enough, that allowed her to begin to detach key components, until the machine suddenly wound down, and grind to a halt on the remnants of her thrown batarang. she pulled the pieces apart, and let them clatter to the floor at her golden armored boots.

"GCPD and EMS are on their way." Batgirl said, her voice no longer demonic in tone, but rather perfectly normal again, though a bit quiet and soft, not quite to the degree of a whisper, but to one of a calming assurance.

She looked to Lois once more, an impressive visage cut in that armored Bat-suit, but one that probably did not do much to impress this woman of worldly resolve, steel and determination.

"Do you have any idea why the Riddler targeted you like this?" She asked Lois, as her cape, and red hair, gently flowed in a wind coming in through the large open doors at the far side of the room.

Outside the building, her drones were continuing to survey the area, some of them had even broken off to track the Riddler, likely keeping tail with him, less he had more tricks up his sleeves for evading such menaces of surveilence technology.

Additionally, the sound of GCPD sirens were filling up the night time, as they were racing to this old, and forgotten, location.

Lois Lane has posed:
Thinking back on the conversation, Lois considers Batgirl, and what she can see of her. She could tell Batgirl was trying to gauge her, maybe looking for some sign of distress or fear. Lois had seen that look before-from cops, soldiers, even other heroes. But there was no panic in her, just the familiar weariness of someone who'd danced with danger far too many times. This wasn't her first brush with Gotham's madness, and probably wouldn't be the last.

When Batgirl asked why the Riddler had targeted her, Lois let out a small, humorless laugh. "Yeah. I think I do. When I came to, he gave me one of his riddles." And with that, she recites:

"I was caught in plain sight, yet you spun quite a tale.
Claimed I was elsewhere, and the details, they failed.
You wrote of a mansion, where shadows abound,
But missed the real spot where I never was found.
Where did you err, and what did I scheme,
That left your report as shoddy as it seemed?"

Lois sighs, starting to lean against the press, then realizes that would get ink on her dress, and that just would not fly. "Anyway, while I was all tied up with little to do..." She says this as someone who is familiar with being tied up in all the unfun ways.

"The Planet ran a story on a caper he tried to pull in Metropolis. He was hiding in a mansion when, in reality, his scheme was meant to be at a bank or a similar public place. The "shadows" refer to her assumption of a more mysterious, secluded location, while he actually carried out his plot in a more exposed, brazen environment. In other words, he's gaslighting me because I didn't give him the story he wanted."

"But. Honestly? It could be any number of reasons. Maybe he didn't like my last article. Maybe he's bored and figured messing with Superman's favorite reporter would draw out some big guns. Could be just another twisted chapter in his obsession with puzzles and people who ask too many questions." She shrugged, glancing at the doorway, already imagining the flashing lights of the GCPD closing in.

Lois's eyes darkened for a moment, her usual bravado tempered by the weight of her experiences. "But here's the thing. Guys like the Riddler think they're always in control, playing us all like we're pawns in their game. What he didn't count on was me not breaking. And you," she said, glancing at Batgirl, "showing up to ruin his little riddle."

"You do good work, Batgirl. You and the others. I don't think Gotham appreciates you all enough. But again. Thank you. I'd ask if you want to get coffee, but I'm sure I wouldn't be the one drawing the admiring stares." she points out with a wink.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
It is a complicated life, living that of which the Bats do. Barbara Gordon would have different responses, different comments, different suggestions, and different reactions to everything that Lois just told her. But Batgirl? she was trained to filter almost all of that out. Lois had her life actively threatened, a demise that would have been as grizly as any one could imagine. But that end had been thwarted, and the end result was the question of 'Why?'

Lois had given reasonable answers, but the ultimate question was Why did Edward do any of the things he did? Surely there was a better use of his genius for this world...

Something Barbara might say. But not Batgirl.

"I am glad you are okay." Batgirl says, her voice still laced with a silky calm energy. "Gotham, at its core, is better than the worst of our people." She added. "I hope this hasn't soured you on our city."

She didn't respond to the coffee part, simply stood there and kept her green eyes locked on Lois' own, studying the woman, as she focused on the sound of the PD approaching, and gauging their distance. She knew her drones were tracking them too, as they were ever relaying contact to GCPD dispatchers, in hopes of making a Cop's life that much easier too.

"They'll be here soon. They'll see to it that you make it home safe." She further explained to the woman, though she knew that a woman of this caliber was well aware of what comes next. "I will do my best to help stop him, from any future attacks upon you. Let's hope this is the last, though."

Outside, headlights began to shine on the building, along with the swirling hues of crimson and deep blue.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois gave Batgirl a long look, a mixture of appreciation and that familiar edge of skepticism. She couldn't help the slight chuckle that escaped her lips as she heard the vigilante's calm, collected words. Gotham, at its core, is better than the worst of our people. It was a nice sentiment, sure, but Gotham wasn't Metropolis. Gotham wore its darkness on its sleeve, and Lois had learned long ago that hope was a harder sell in this city.

"Better than the worst of your people, huh?" Lois echoed, her voice softer now but still carrying that bite of realism. "I've seen enough of Gotham to know it's not all just villains and shadows. You've got people who fight the good fight, like you. But let's not pretend it's all sunshine and roses either. I mean, one minute, I'm writing an article, the next I'm tied to a death trap. Typical Gotham welcome, right?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, still sore from being strapped down, and sighed. "And no, it hasn't soured me on your city. I've seen worse, believe it or not. At least here, the bad guys wear their masks up front."

Lois turned toward the distant headlights, the flashing reds and blues reflecting off the dusty walls of the abandoned building. She knew the drill, the cops would come, ask questions, file reports, and then she'd be on her way. Another near-death experience to add to her collection. But she'd keep doing what she always did and dig deeper, ask the uncomfortable questions, and maybe piss off a few more psychopaths in the process.

"Don't worry about me," she said, turning back to Batgirl with a wry smile. "I've had worse run-ins. Riddler's little games don't scare me off so easily." She paused, looking the vigilante up and down. "But you, Batgirl, you keep doing what you do. Gotham needs people like you, maybe more than it realizes. But I know that you do."

Lois then added, with a grin that showed her resilience, "But, for the record, I'm not planning on being a pawn in any more of these little Gotham riddles. If he does come after me again, I'll be ready. And if you catch up with him before then, tell him from me, he'll need a better trick next time."

The sirens grew louder as the cops finally pulled up, their lights bathing the building in harsh color. Lois gave Batgirl a final nod. "Stay safe, and thanks for saving my skin."

And with that, she started out into the glare of reds and blues.