3426/Trail to NOWHERE

Trail to NOWHERE
Date of Scene:	18 September 2020
Location:	Gotham Harbor
Synopsis:	Red Robin and Ravager confront one of NOWHERE main agents and his bodyguards. Templar makes some promises.
Cast of Characters:	Conner Kent, Tim Drake, Rose Wilson

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Conner Kent has posed:
There was not much time to warn the others as the tip came from an informant in the middle of a routine patrol. Usually it wouldn't be anything to worry about. Blackgate escapee Boogy (actual name Dan Burges). One of the Joker gang cronies, he spent six years there and managed to slip out during the last superhuman emergency.

He is not very smart (if he was, he wouldn't have worked for Joker) so he is trying to sell some of the Joker old stuff in the black market. Possibly something he kept hidden when he was jailed last time. No one is giving him two weeks before the Joker gets him.

But the contact giving the tip mentioned he had found a buyer. Someone called Dr. Zaniel Templar. No a name ever heard in Gotham.

In fact very few people have heard of Dr. Templar since the alien Invasion years ago. Those few who had, sometimes name him as one of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. agents. And he is in Gotham's harbor, right now. Dock 16, which is not operative due to problems with the electric supply.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin, however, has heard of Zaniel Templar, mostly due to the abnormal amount of digging on the internet and dark net he's spent too much time on, hunting down Conner's creators. It's one of the many things that has kept him in the labs way too often of late, between this and dealing with the Court of Owls.

So that name pings something, and once Red Robin plugs it into his wrist computer... "We'll come back for this idiot, Ravager... if this information is right, we need to get to the Docks right now." Their motorcycles are nearby, at least, so the trip down from shakedown city on one of Joker's goons to the docks shouldn't take too long.

Rose Wilson has posed:
The name doesn't mean anything to her, but then again, she's not the one that lives in the lab, or a computer. So there is likely no surprise that she's got no clues.

However, when Robin says that it's time to go, she follows his lead down to the docks. Who they shake down doesn't make any difference to her, afterall.

Conner Kent has posed:
Dock 16 has been closed all the week. Which is unusual, as any electrical issue should have been fixed in a couple days. But it was probably sabotage. Because Gotham. In any case, it is rather dark. Except for the clown that left the lights of the pickup truck on. Literarily. There is also a boat docked where there shouldn't be any. In the darkness it looks like it could be a yacht or a small but modern cargo boat.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin narrows his eyes from their vantage point, looking at the truck with the lights still on and the boat at the closed dock. He checks for any heat signatures to see if he can determine at least how many people they might be dealing with. He frowns at the mini yacht-possibly cargo boat. "Huh. You think I might be able to confiscate that and that would satisfy Wonder Girl's constant demands for a yacht?" he asks idly, focusing on it, though not for what he's joking about. "For a closed dock, it seems awfully busy this late at night." He gestures towards the boat. "I just see the one signature... guy on the deck. I think he's got an assault rifle."

Rose Wilson has posed:
"No." Ravager replies with a shake of her head, "Why does she want a yacht and why is that //your// problem?"

Important questions, one and all. But then she starts to get off her bike, "I can take him out."

Conner Kent has posed:
To Robin thermal sight the presence of the armed guard is obvious. Otherwise the man is nearly invisible. He seems alone, although the engine of the pickup truck is still quite hot, hinting someone got there in the last 20 minutes or so.

Nothing else in the dock, it is all dark and quite (but for the sounds of the city a hundred yards behind). Gotham's night is a noisy as New York's. And has far more police car wailing sounds.

Tim Drake has posed:
"I'm actually not sure why," Robin responds quietly, a little surprised at her retort, but then he remembers she's a bit peeved with Cassie over the mission last week. Ah yeah. Probably... better not to... step into that. "Was just joking anyway." He continues scanning, frowning a bit. "Engine is still hot on the truck. Whoever left the lights on hasn't been gone long. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume the guard on the top of the boat is covering for at least a couple of guys inside where my scanners can't see." He frowns. "Have any of those taser rounds with you? I don't think I can hit him with a batarang from here. Or we can try getting closer."

Rose Wilson has posed:
"I'm sure." Rose replies, moving to get out a few things from where she's tucked them into various places on the bike. When he asks her if she's got taser rounds she gives him a look, one that clearly looks mildly irritated by the question.

Or maybe the reminder that she isn't supposed to shoot to kill. "Go, I'll take the guard out and follow."

Conner Kent has posed:
As the pair starts moving, the guard moves too. He jumps to the dock and moves to take cover behind the pickup truck. For his movements it is obvious he spotted Rose. But not Tim.

Closer now, Tim can see he is wearing some kind of high-tech helmet. A N.O.W.H.E.R.E. helmet, as for the sketched reports. Except there is not a number in the faceplate. Also, he is missing the rest of the armor, just wearing the helmet and a dull grey breastplate. The bare arms seem covered with tattoos.

Tim Drake has posed:
He brushes his fingertips against her forearm in affirmation and nods, then starts moving towards the docks... when the guy moves and takes cover behind the truck. <<Damn.>> He doesn't have to point out they've been spotted. Rose is a bright girl and can see that for herself. He narrows his eyes at the man's helmet... calculating the odds of him having similar setup to what's in Tim's domino mask. <<I think he can see your body heat. Damnit.>> While one train of thought is already mentally crafting her armor similar to what he is wearing (assuming she'd wear it... girls are touchy about this kind of thing, Tim has some inkling this may be so), another is already calculating the angles...

Thwip! He hurls a well-aimed batarang (electrified) at the guard. Two more plain ones follow in short order, each aimed for the headlamps of the truck.

Rose Wilson has posed:
<< I can shoot through a truck. >> Rose points out, which is very much the truth. She just can't shoot a non-lethal sort that Tim really, really wants her to shoot.

But that is neither here, nor there, when Tim takes the initiative. She pulls her sword out, trading it for the gun to instead start heading down towards the docks. << I'll keep the attention on me. >>

Conner Kent has posed:
The guard raises his rifle when Rose moves, but then the batrang hits him and he goes down with a startled cry. The other two batrangs kill all the lights, leaving the dock in near complete darkness. It is the usual cloudy Gotham night, and the moon was barely a sliver in the sky, anyway.

The guard should be out for the count. A normal human would be unconscious. But he is not. Wheezing and grunting, he starts to crawl to pick up his rifle.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin moves quickly, kicking the rifle away with a clatter as he pulls out his extendable staff, flicking it out to full. He swings the staff to crack the guard upside the helmeted head.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Look! She kept the attention on her. Maybe. Either way, she makes her way over to where Tim is, her sword in hand, << In? >> In is where they are going, isn't it? Maybe she wasn't paying attention when Tim made plans.

Did he?

Conner Kent has posed:
The guard tries to stop the staff with an arm, but he is too slow, still reeling by the electrical discharge. The impact with his head sends his helmet flying, revealing a tattooed face underneath. "Red Robin," he grunts. "They told us it could be you."

There is flash of light and a second guard 'jumps' from the body of the first, tackling Robin down. The 'second guard' is exactly like the fist but for slightly different tattoos in the arms, and outweighs Tim by a good fifty pounds of mass. He is also enhanced: strong like a gorilla.

Behind the group fighting, the lights of the boat come in. It is a sleek thing. Vaguely military, although not armed.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin goes down from the tackle, in part due to the surprise and in part due to being outweighed. But taking him to the ground doesn't take him out of the fight at all. The surprise was less than momentary, and he's quickly grappling with the second, newly appeared guard. Robin is deceptively strong, so the extra weight and bulk of the guard is hardly an impediment as he moves to try and gain the upper hand and manacle the guy. He could give a snappy comeback to the guy, but why bother?

Rose Wilson has posed:
There is a startled shift when the second guard "jumps" from the first, and Ravager does what comes naturally to her, she stabs. But she doesn't stab at the second guard that tackles Tim, instead she moves for the first one that is on the ground.

Apologies will be made later, perhaps, but she lifts her arms up and slams the tip of her blade down into the guard on the ground. She doesn't hit the heart, and might only clip a lung or a kidney, one of her feet moving to the guard's neck as she twists the blade.

Conner Kent has posed:
The first guard was pulling a handgun when Rose stabs him, so that might have saved the vigilante pair some trouble. The man cries in pain and then glows, and vanishes.

And then, from the back of the second guard, currently struggling to pin down Robin. A THIRD man appears. Also clad as the others, but with yet somewhat different tattoos in his arms. This guard wastes no time to open fire with a silenced submachine gun at Rose. "You hurt my brother bad, you bitch!" He grunts.

Tim Drake has posed:
The appearance of a third man, this one with a submachine gun, puts a wave of adrenaline in Red Robin that has him shove the second guy off of him, landing a punch in his throat as he does. Instead of moving to subdue him, Tim launches a tackle at the third guy's knees to knock him down. "Watch your mouth," he snaps, anger lacing his tone when normally, when masked, it wouldn't. If he's successful, he'll try and disarm the guy, focusing on that as a priority. The lights coming on the boat haven't gone unnoticed... nor the military stylings of the boat.

Rose Wilson has posed:
The sudden appearance of a third with a //gun// catches Rose slightly off guard, and her movements to dodge the spray of bullets is too slow. The first few catch her, and one slams into the armor, which means she'll just have a nasty bruise there. The other catches her shoulder and that one is going to hit bone, then another wings her as she dives and rolls out of the line of fire.

When she rolls back to her feet there is a grunt of pain, and she pulls her own gun from behind her to take aim at the third guard, only to have Tim move in and try to tackle the guy instead. So she then swings around to take aim at the lights of the on coming boat instead.

Conner Kent has posed:
The punch to the throat makes the guard recoil, allowing Tim to throw him away. He rolls to his feet, coughing, and then dives for cover at seeing Rose pointing at him.

His partner falls down heavily when Robin slams at him, losing grip of the sub-machinegun and fumbling for a combat knife. But then the lights of the boat grow brightly, almost blinding for a second. "Enough, that is enough."

There is a tall and thin man on a black trench coat on the boat gangway. Dark glasses hide his eyes. Robin would recognize him as Zaniel Templar, looking a bit older than the pictures he saw. In his gloved hands he has a small glass cylinder with a green substance inside. "So you are Red Robin. You must be the one looking for us in the Darknet. For a moment I was worried it was Batman. We have been rather careful at leaving Gotham alone, boy. What do you want from N.O.W.H.E.R.E.?"

Tim Drake has posed:
His eyes narrow behind his mask, and Red Robin stands up straight, shifting slightly to put himself between the Templar and Ravager. He had seen the damage she had taken, and while he knows she will heal, he's not risking her taking any more. That they know he's been scouring the dark net is troubling... he's generally extremely careful and is at home in the darkest confines of the deep data web.

"For leaving it alone," he replies tersely, "here you are. And I want information, isn't that why anyone goes to the dark web?" He isn't bringing up Conner, or anything else.

Rose Wilson has posed:
She will, in fact, heal. And is healing. Slowly. Especially the one in the shoulder, but she's not going to show any weakness. So although Tim shifts between them she steps slightly to the side, keeping the gun in her hand trained on their enemies.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Indeed. I came here see who would stalk me," replies Templar with a nasty grin. "Usually I would have left obtaining this," he raises the cylinder, "for a third party, perhaps a fourth. But you have been digging deep, young man. So here I am."

There is a heavyset man behind Templar wearing a clown mask. He must be Boogy, twenty pounds fatter after a long stay in Blackgate. He is trying to look unobtrusive and failing.

"Ask your questions," offers the thin man. "Perhaps I will answer them."

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin's breath catches in his throat as he regards the cylinder in the man's hand. "I'm not sure I'd trust the answers you'd give me," he replies dryly, his right hand slipping into one of his utility pouches casually and handing what he pulls out behind him to Ravager. "And you know I'm going to have to take that from you, Templar." As soon as Ravager takes what he's handed her, he takes a deep breath, snatching up his staff and moving quickly, striking the two guards around him and Rose each once, but trusting her to handle them if they continue to fight... he bolts up the dock's gangway, leaping to attack Templar and Boogy.

Rose Wilson has posed:
Whatever it is that Tim hands her is taken, but she doesn't take the time to look at it yet. Mostly because he leaps into action and begins to knock around the two guards that are next to them.

Which means that the gun in her hand is turned towards the first one, and her sword is held out towards the second one in silent warning to not try anything. Or to //please// try something.

Conner Kent has posed:
"An agency of your government is offering a fortune for an antidote for Smilex. Which N.O.W.H.E.R.E. will prov..." Templar explanation gets cut short when Robin smacks both guards and then jumps towards him.

Boogy runs inside the boat. "I just want the money!" He cries.

Templar just tsks and his coat explodes outward, as dozens of leech-like things burst out. Tentacles ending in sharp-toothed mouths and maws glowing sickly green. The attack, trying to push and bite Robin, providing Templar a dense web-like cover.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin dodges and ducks among the biting mouths, his armor deflecting as many as he knocks away with his staff. "I'm supposed to take your word for it you want to make an antidote?" he asks as he fights his way to Templar. "And that you can succeed where others haven't?" There have been many attempts to make an antidote. None successful. "I know you're still kidnapping metahumans, Templar."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Tim's got this. Right?

Rose assumes so, at least, because she doesn't take her eyes off the other goons. Sometimes it pays to have faith in someone.

Conner Kent has posed:
"We have resources like you wouldn't dream, boy," replies Templar, stepping back so his head stays out of reach of Tim's fighting staff. "We are... recruiting," he corrects, about the kidnappings. "I see you are again hanging out with the remarkable Miss Wilson. She was near the top in our list. But we missed our window, I suppose."

Bite-bite-bite. A few snake-tentacles lose teeth trying to get through Robin's armor, and a few more to staff strikes. But there are too many and it seems unlikely a frontal attack on the mass of darkness by a single fighter, no matter how skilled, will get through before one of the leeches bites him on the face.

Meanwhile the two guards look at Rose warily. She has a gun, but there are two of them and they can teleport. They might have heard about her reflexes, though. They know one of them is likely going to get shot if they attack. "You know. They pay freelancers really well," offers one of them.

Tim Drake has posed:
"You... stay... away from her," Robin snarls, moving to a defensive mode with his staff before hurtling a pair of batarangs into the midst of the writhing, snapping snakes. As soon as they make contact, they burst into a crackling charge of electricity. Then he's back on the offense, even if he's risking a bite or two.

Rose Wilson has posed:
She does have a gun, and she doesn't look at all phased by the offer of being paid well.

However, maybe she figures out that they might be weighing their options about attacking. Or she's imagining what //she// would be doing in this case. So she takes the shot at the one that talked, aiming for his knee.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Ooh, hit a nerve?" Templar amused chuckle gets disrupted by the batrangs. They don't hit his torso, as they are intercepted by the snake-leeches. But those darkness beings are connected to him, so he yelps and stumbles back, the tendrils flailing blindly by a few seconds.

"Damnit, boy," he growls, "I am not your enemy. We both want a safer world! Ow!" That cry is when the staff finally hits his back. But it is an armoured coat, so at most Robin left a bruise.

Meanwhile the two 'freelancers' are nodding, trying to convince Rose she can get rich if she... well, unclear. But N.O.W.H.E.R.E. might be able to pay well. It becomes a moot point when she shoots one of them on the knee. He is wearing some protection there, but of course it still hurts a lot. And the man flashes out of there. His brother, however, is charging Rose like a bull.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Yeah, well, I don't kidnap people," Red Robin snaps. He's not buying that all the recruitment is voluntary, especially given some of the articles he's found. "And I don't work with the Joker or his goons. So something tells me we are //not// on the same side here."

The gunshot draws his attention slightly, though he has to trust Rose to be able to handle herself. "Hand over the Smilex, and get the hell out of Gotham."

Rose Wilson has posed:
The one that vanishes is...well, out of range. But Rose doesn't bother shooting the next one, instead when he charges her she just...waits?

Giving it until he's right there before she spins, then steps into the thrust, the point of her sword aimed for the goons gut.

Conner Kent has posed:
"We don't work with... bah, no point," the snakes refocus to attack Robin from all directions, as Templar backpedals towards the way down into the boat. Leaving Robin less angles from were to strike. Fortunately he has not dropped the Smilex canister. Those tend to be fragile.

The last of the trio of teleporters fatally underestimated Rose's speed. Or maybe he was trusting his armor and underestimated her strength. The sword runs through his guts and he can barely curse, and jump back to his brothers, leaving the white-haired girl alone with her bloody sword. Now all the three need medical attention!

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin drops to a kneeling position to spin and swing the staff over himself, giving the snakes less of a target to attack. Then he springs forward into among the snapping maws that remain, moving to chase Templar down before he can make his escape if he can.

Rose Wilson has posed:
The blood is casually flicked from the surface of her blade, and Rose starts to head after Tim and the fleeing Templar. She's not moving at top speed, which might be a good indication that all that moving around has made the pain in her shoulder double.

Conner Kent has posed:
There is actually not many places Templar can go inside the boat. He just wanted a good defensive position. But he can't leave, and he can expect no help from the triplets, since they are now a couple miles away. Boogy? Well, he has a cheap handgun. But he is discounted as useless.

"I am leaving Gotham," he states. "If you step inside the boat and I tossing the Smilex at you. Stop prying into our business, Boy Wonder. Or Gotham will become our next recruitment ground."

Tim Drake has posed:
The Smilex threat does at least give Red Robin pause-- no, who are we kidding? The Boy Wonder doesn't even slow down as his run down the gangplank gives him more than ample speed and lift to leap onto the boat. "Try it," he growls, surprisingly sanguine for a guy who currently has no protection against that lethal gas should it be released. If the canister is, in fact, thrown at him, he acrobatically plucks it from the air, not allowing a drop of fear to show on his expression no matter how very, very aware of how dangerous the substance within is.

"Boogy, it's back to Blackgate for you. And Templar, you're going with him." Red Robin's face is grim as he tucks the vial away in a pouch, continuing to move towards the good doctor.

Conner Kent has posed:
"Oh, I don't think so." Templar tosses the canister and curses when Tim grabs it. But he was already jumping into the water. His physiology is rather weird, but he is not taking his chances with Smilex. He is not stupid.

The waters of Gotham harbor are nasty enough to almost qualify as toxic. Also, inky dark. Templar vanishes quickly and doesn't resurface.

Boogy surrenders without much a fuss. He was promised a large amount of money and a passage to Europe (he already has a good fake passport) all he asks is not being jailed in Gotham. The Joker is going to kill him.

That leaves Tim and Rose with a nice boat. Made for smuggling in some pirate den in Asia, no doubt. There is some info on board. As well as a few bobby-traps. No big challenge for them.