3204/Court of Owls: In Owls We Trust

Court of Owls: In Owls We Trust
Date of Scene:	02 September 2020
Location:	Third Gotham Bank and Trust
Synopsis:	Red Squared (Robin and Hood) find some creepy culty stuff in the Bank Building.
Cast of Characters:	Tim Drake, Jason Todd

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Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin absolutely hates wearing his costume in the daytime hours, and avoids it whenever he can help it. But there are some things that are better investigated during the daylight hours and there is no way he's poking into Owl Nests without being armed and armored.

Which is why it's late afternoon, about an hour before the bank itself on the first floor closes, when Red Robin lands lightly on the rooftop of the GH Gates building, currently housing the Third Gotham Bank and Trust. He isn't alone, due to Batman's requirement of the buddy system being implemented. Red Hood wouldn't be his first choice for something investigatory but considering there might be a chance of ninja zombie owl assassins poking back, Red Robin isn't arguing. The far more lethal ex-Robin makes for good zombie dismembering if it comes to that.

Jason Todd has posed:
With the prospect of facing the Owls Red Hood came prepared, in addition to his twin pistols, and heavily armoured suit, he's got a Talon sword and a shotgun strapped to his back. The only thing missing is his leather jacket, which is being replaced by a bandoleer, of throwing stars, pilfered batarangs, and other bits and bobs the other Bats keep on utility belts.

Landing on the roof behind Red Robin, Red Hood, rises from his crouch and reels in his grapple line. "Feels weird doing this when the suns out," he remarks. "Giving up a bunch of our advantages," he says tapping his helmet by the eyes, that nightvision always gave them an edge in a fight.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Tell me about it," Red Robin replies, already picking the lock on the roof access door. Its a standard tumbler lock, nothing high tech, which has him rolling his eyes behind his domino mask. Such an easy task. After a couple of moments, the lock clicks open and he pulls the door open, ducking inside for Hood to follow. "The mystery gap is between the 10th and 11th floors, and we're on the 12th." He quickly shoots the building map over to Hood's HUD in his mask. There's a red arrow line from where they are to what looks like a ceiling vent on the 10th floor. "Proposed route and access point. Let's try and avoid being seen." Obvious advice is, in fact, obvious. He slinks down the concrete stairwell heading towards the 10th floor door.

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood reviews the map in his hud quickly and follows after Red Robin. "Right, just like with the clowns at the laundry," he says suppressing the little shudder that comes of anything clown related. Though, the Owls were soon moving up the list towards earning a shudder of their own. "So, what's the over-under on there being Owls here?" he asks as much to make conversation as anything. He slides a pistol out of its holster as he descends towards the tenth floor, ready for any surprises.

Tim Drake has posed:
"If it's like the other buildings we've looked at? Highly unlikely. Still rather be prepared." Tim cracks the door to the tenth floor and peers out, scanning for body heat. "Mm. Someone's still working in the office over there. We'll avoid going that way." A quick reroute around pops up. "Otherwise looks fairly quiet. People must have gone home early." Which he is absolutely fine with. He slips out the door and down the halls, around a corner and then to just underneath the vent. "Boost me. I'll get this open and we'll see what we can find."

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood follows the re-route, moving stealthy around the office where the unsuspecting worker hammers away at his keyboard while the vigilantes make their way deeper into the building.

When the request for a boost is given, Red Hood puts his pistol away and holds out both hands as step for Red Robin to get up and remove the grate before crawling inside.

"See anything?" Red Hood asks, pulling the sword and shotgun off his back in preparation for crawling into the vent.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin makes a face. Vent is clean, which already disturbs him a bit, and wide enough to actually turn around in (though with some effort) which he does to offer an arm to help Hood up, even as he slides backwards down the vent. "Doesn't actually look like its really connected to the air ducts," he notes darkly. "No sign of life or scanners, though. We should be good."

Once Hood is up and the vent grate slid back in place, Robin turns around and starts down the fairly sized vent corridor on hands and knees until he reaches the entry vent into the missing floor. He frowns, scanning the metal grating. There are tiny owls worked into the heavy grate.

Jason Todd has posed:
"Well that pretty much makes this a hit for shady shit going on," Red Hood says when Red Robin says the vent isn't even hooked into duct system. He tosses his weapons into the vent when Red Robin is clear of the entry and pulls himself in afterwards crawling along behind Red Robin. "Definitely too clean in here," he agrees as he moves. "What's on the other side of the grate."

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin twists a bit to get a good angle on the much heavier grate, trying to force it up. He can't see any screws or fasteners so gravity is probably its only ally. Except it doesn't move.

Red Robin isn't the strongest of the Bats but he certainly isn't a slouch. "Fuck," he mutters, before actually rolling on his back in the tunnel and pressing his boots to the grate. "Cover just in case this pisses someone up above off," he says quietly, before using his legs to lever the grate upwards.

It takes a bit, also never skip leg day, but the grate is shoved upwards and a loud thud can be heard above.

Red Robin is quiet for a second, listening for a response. Nothing comes. "Something was on the grate holding it down," he notes. "You want point?"

Jason Todd has posed:
"Got it," Red Hood says when Red Robin asks for cover, the pistol comes out and is aimed up at the grate until it pops open. Once it does, Red Hood grabs his sword and shotgun slipping by Red Robin and climbing into the dimly lit room above them. He flicks on the Infrared Flashlight on the end of the shotgun and flicks on the night vision on his helmet to make use of the illumination that would be otherwise invisible to the naked eye. He sweeps it about the dim lit room, it was like going back in time, the room looked like something out of the old pictures of Wayne Manor, there wee chairs of an old tyme style, around one of which had been knocked over by the grate coming free. Unsurprisingly the chairs had a oil motif carved into them which matched the wall paper. Jason sweeps the rooms four corners and two closed doors before he moves forward declaring the room, "Clear," as he picks up and rights the chair to one side of the grate.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin pops up through the grate while Red Hood is sweeping the room, blinking behind his mask at the... sheer number of owls in the motif of the room. "They really need a new gig," he mutters, but starts poking around carefully. He takes in the detail of the wallpaper, the carvings of the chairs, even flips one of them over looking for a maker's mark, which he doesn't find. "I mean, besides being old, this place isn't that bad. Just looks like some great-grandma's parlor, and she //really// likes owls." He glances towards the doors. The slitted windows are on the north-facing wall, the two doors are one to the south and one to the east. "Eenie meenie miney mo. Which way? HUDs not showing any heat signatures, but these zombies don't exactly ping it."

Jason Todd has posed:
There's a snort from Red Hood. "Sort of makes me glad neither of my folks were speaking to the older generations," he says of their surroundings as he keeps his attention fixed on their surroundings. "That one," he says when it comes time to pick a door. No real reason for it other than it happens to be the one to the right of the grate, the one his IR flashlight is shining on.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Works for me." Red Robin moves over beside the door, checking for any obvious traps (none) and checking the old-fashioned doorknob to see if it's easy to open. It's locked, but locks this old and of this type are a joke to a modern lockpicker. A couple of moments later, the knob turns freely. He moves to the side of the door before opening it, allowing Jason's flashlight (and gunbarrel) a clear path into the dark room. When nothing bursts out to stab them, Red Robin shrugs, taking point on this room since Hood took the last.

It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

Luckily for Tim and Jason, their masks both have night vision, which comes in handy for this sort of thing. A pair of twinned circles are carved into the dark marble floor of the room like a venn diagram. The room is devoid of furniture, windows, or anything other than those, a long stone 'table' with owls carved along the sides with a scattering of items on it: a pitted knife, the blade about the length of Hood's forearm, the hilt a stylized infinity symbol, the grip rotten leather; half-melted, unlit dark wax candles in silvery owl candlesticks; a couple of chalices of beaten metal; a white marble bowl...

Jason Todd has posed:
If only Red Hood knew what a grue was, he'd agree, as it was he sweeps into the room shotgun first, gun primed for a headshot if anything Talon like should appear out of the darkness. As it turns out there's not Talons, but what they find is no less weird and spooky.

Red Hood sweeps the room, doors and corners, before he lets that light settle on the spooky stuff, naturally drawn towards the blade. He let's out a low-whistle inside his helmet. "Hoping your great grandma didn't have one of these next to her parlour." he quips wryly as he moves his attention from the knife, to the chalices, to the bowl to the carvings on the floor, ones he instinctively steps away from when he sees he's partially standing one one of them.

Tim Drake has posed:
"I'm going with probably not," Red Robin replies dryly, also keeping out of the circular carvings on the floor as he examines the items on the table and the table itself. With his //eyes// because he is absolutely not touching this shit. "Court of Owls or Cult of Owls?" he quips back, pulling out one of his extendable staves and partially extending it to a stick about a foot long to gently prod at one of the chalices. "You got a UV light? If not I think I should have one in a pouch here somewhere."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Heh. Maybe they spelled it wrong," Red Hood says dryly, court vs cult. Though he's not long after in breathing a concerned sigh. "So, it really is some old ass secret cult." He'd really been counting on a zombie making rogue with an owl theme, that had been scary enough. "Guess I owe Sparrow five bucks." Jokes aside Red Hood's voice is tense.

He does have a UV light though and he pops it out of a pouch and turns it on, sweeping first over the knife, which lights up like Cathedral Square at Christmas, and then more slowly over the floor, splotches of luminescence, splattering the floor and walls alike. Blood.

"Fuck," Red Hood swears taking it all in.

Tim Drake has posed:
"So, at the risk of sounding like an asshole..." Red Robin pulls a second UV light out of his belt, shining it around too, his mouth drawn in a grim line, "this is a bit above our pay grade. I mean... mafia goons, walking piles of mud? That's one thing." He pulls up his wrist computer and fires up recording what his mask is seeing. "Recording now, Hood. But I really do not think we should touch //any// of this." The light skims across the room again, this time slower, as Red Robin is obviously slowing recording everything likely to play for Batman later. "But uh. Zombies. Secret cult. Giant blood splattered murder room above the bank. Just a Tuesday in Gotham." Red Robin's voice is frighteningly light at that, which probably indicates exactly how entirely NOT OKAY he is at the moment.

Jason Todd has posed:
If anything Red Robin being not okay with this is almost comforting as Red Hood is /very/ much not okay either. "Actually, you sound smart for a change," he says lightly, of declaring this above their paygrade. After all, beyond the cults, blood and zombies, they also knew who they were and who they cared about.

Red Hood snaps the recorder on his mask as well, might as well double down in case things got hairy. "Figure we scout this room and the other one and get out?" he asks, moving to cover the door they'd left open behind them.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Sounds like a plan, especially the 'getting out' part." A few last sweeps of the room, and then Red Robin flips off the UV light. He slowly backs out of the 'murder room' into the 'parlor'. He takes a deep breath as he closes the door with them both out of it. After a moment, he locks it back. No sense making it obvious they had been there, right?

He eyes the other door with great trepidation. "Well, it can't be //worse// than that..." he says, already feeling a little 'spoke too soon' as the words leave his mouth. He reaches for the doorknob, and once Hood is in position with the shotgun pointing into the room, swings the door open into the pitch.

The door only opens about halfway before hitting something behind it.

The half-extended staff is flicked out to full, and he keeps out of the way in case there's about to be a shotgun blast to someone's face.

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood stays in the murder room until Red Robin is out then, falls back and lets him lock the door while the shotgun is swung around on the other door. When Red Robin tries that and it doesn't open there's no shotgun blast but there is a size twelve boot slamming into the antique wood. The door opens, things being knocked down inside. Red Hood sweeps the room, no Talons, just more antique furniture, this time a desk and some bookcases. "It's some sort of office," he says. Again he sweeps the room, before moving over to let Red Robin in to join in the snooping.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin makes his way straight to the most likely place to hold anything useful: the desk. He's methodical in looking it over, opening the drawers and checking for hidden compartments. He does find hidden compartments. Three of them.

They are as empty as the rest of the desk.

Red Robin makes a noise of frustration, dropping to the floor and half crawling UNDER the desk to see if there's anything at ALL he can find there. Perhaps something glues or taped to the bottom. A maker's mark. A carving. ANYTHING.

It's a bust.

Jason Todd has posed:
Red Hood covers Red Robin's search but as it goes to under the table, his attention strays to the shelf beside him, tilting his head and stepping back, "Gross," he says. "R-Squared, got a jar of teeth here," he says, leaning in close and focusing his light on. "Looks like someone has a thing for molars. Just when things couldn't get much creepier." He checks the other shelf to make sure that's the only jar of teeth to be found.

Tim Drake has posed:
"...so we're fighting zombie owls, murder cultists, //and// the toothfairy?" Red Robin slides out from under the desk, making the 'found nothing' gesture out of silent habit. "I think we need to get this info back to Batman. And also, to not be //here// anymore, because at this point I'm expecting some demon creature from the abyss to pop out and say hi." The straight line of his mouth belies the joke. He's not joking. Not really. He focuses on the jar Red Hood had found, getting a good visual of it first with the night vision and then flipping on a normal light for a moment to get video that way, before flipping his light back off and gesturing towards the door.

"I'm so glad tonight is my night off. I think I'm going to try forgetting about this existing for at least an hour or two."

Jason Todd has posed:
There's a bark of a laugh at the tooth fairy line, "Looks like it," he says, thought he laugh is a short and tense one. "Great, now you jinxed us," Red Hood quips with that same tension. "But yeah, let's take the vid back to Batman, and get the hell out of here," he says moving back towards to cover the door.

There's a nod about wanting to forget about all they've seen as well. "Say hi to Ravager, for me," he says guessing at how Red Robin would choose to forget. It was a guess, but he figured it'd have to Rose or the lab.

"Might use my night off to go to New York, pick up my jackets, enjoy some murder room free real estate for a night."

Tim Drake has posed:
There's a hint of flush on Red Robin's cheeks beneath the mask, and a corner of his lips quirk in a half smile for the first time this evening. "I will," he replies, though he's both not shocks and a little embarrassed that was obviously his intention. "Yeah. A trip up the loop doesn't sound awful. Enjoy it."

And quickly and stealthily as they both can, they make their way back out of the building and up to the Batcave to turn in their findings before taking the rest of the night off.