7467/Deathtrap in Black

Deathtrap in Black
Date of Scene:	21 August 2021
Location:	7467-Halfway down a cliff..
Synopsis:	Truly a work of art, the Batman himself showcases his ability to escape a deathtrap! Orphan learns a few things in the process.
Cast of Characters:	Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain

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Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Bat almost wished he could call this one of the stranger nights of his career, but the truth was that death traps were so agonizingly plain at this point that they sometimes shared the same mechanism and solution. The cage dangled high over a swimming pool of thrashing water, lengths of jagged metal jutting at deadly angles from beneath the tumult. Occasionally something would surface, a sinister yellow eye peering up before dipping back down into the murky depth once again.

High above, they share the cage. The chains supporting it rattle noisily as it sways from side to side, and the Batman patiently works his wrists to free them from a pair of dark iron manacles. There is a familiar popping and a grunt from the vigilante as he pops his thumbs out of their sockets, painfully shaking them off his wrists and letting them plummet to the floor of the cage with a clatter.

As he works them back into place with a grimace, pinched fingers extend out until index and middle fingers jut out at a right angle. The American Sign Language gesture for 'ok?'

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Orphan is upside-down. Apparently whoever put them here decided that she was annoying, and cuffed her feet to the -top- of the cage, and her hands to the bottom. She bit, so they reacted poorly.

Honestly it hasn't really seemed to upset her. She looks around curiously with a bit of an excited smile on her face. The move to free himself makes Cassandra raise her eyebrow in apparent astonishment.

Using the example as training, the upside down vigilante grasps her hands together. The sound of thumbs popping out is audible, but she quickly follows suit.

A moment later she's doing a sit-up and working on the ankles. Her control is astounding. But as always she does not speak. There's definitely communication, but she's never shown a preference for ASL or speech. She just...watches.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Batman clutches a fist at his chest and uses the other hand to draw down from chin to the top of the fist in a single swiping motion: 'Good' he tells her - or 'Good enough.' He knows well that the ASL is an imperfect way to speak with her, that she's more reading his body language than any sort of proper cipher or speech, but in his mind it seems a lot simpler and straightforward than words.

"Nngh," he grunts, lifting one heavy boot to drive it down against the bottom of the cage. It rattles noisily, even flexing a little beneath the strength of the kick, but ultimately it stays in place. He crouches down, the pupiless eyelets of his mask narrowing as he examines it.

"Welded shut," he growls, shoulders tensed and mouth a grim line. Before he can open his mouth to speak again, a makeshift array of televisions hum to life on the other side of the large, dark room they occupy. They begin at '5:00' before it starts to count down - five minutes. At the same time the mechanism above the cage begins to groan and the whole thing starts to inexorably lower towards the water.

'Voicless it cries,' rings a voice over a loudspeaker, crackling and replete with static, 'Wingless flutters. Toothless bites. Mouthless mutters.'

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cassandra has put a foot against the bar holding her ankle cuffs, and is trying to snap the chain by main force. She has none of the tools of the trade on her, which would likely have made it easier. However she does pause when Batman speaks to her, her eyes looking with an intensity that delves into obsession.

She waits for him to finish stomping. Then when the 'voice' starts speaking, she goes back to what she was doing. Ignoring the riddle entirely.

The first chain begins to bend, just slightly, as her entire body tenses. Yet not a sound out of her aside from the creaking of her clothing and the strain on the chain.

When it snaps she falls, slamming into the floor significantly harder than the Bat's boot did a moment before.

She does not help with the riddle's solution.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"The wind," Batman mutters to himself in answer to the riddle, almost as though it were not worth replying to. He keeps his eyes on Orphan. While he knows she's more than capable of getting out of such confines, he still watches over her. In many ways she's the most experienced and most vulnerable of all the Bats - all at the same time.

He's still crouching, examining the bottom of the cage when Orphan falls from her perch and slams into it. He clicks his tongue against his teeth, pausing for a moment as though experiencing the space around him all at once.

"There's a draft," he tells Orphan, without looking at her as he rises to his feet and splays the fingers on both hands to move them through the air, 'Wind."

He throws himself against the side of the cage suddenly, causing it to judder and swing wide on its chain.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
She rises to her feet, the lack of any kind of mask seeming somehow natural. She has never really needed to hide her identity; she has none. It makes her a more effective weapon.

She lifts her right foot when he starts to move, as if simply doing so will be important. His impact moves the ground beneath them, and she is steadied by her raised foot. Then she bends that right knee, heaving at the appropriate time.

The physics children learn on the swings, she learned at the end of a rope over spikes. The pressure of her body adds to the swinging motion. And she's using the space well, the two of them can alternate even in these confines.

The cage swings close to the rock face, and she waits for HIM to make adjustments, like a traffic controller version of Bruce Lee.

That's a thing, right?

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Batman nods his head slightly, the body language equivalent of an exuberant and grateful 'yes' as Orphan picks up on the plan. He widens his stance on the cage's floor, shifting his weight from one side to another to add to the swing of the cage. He reaches to the space on his belt that might normally hold the grapnel, only to find it missing. He grits his teeth, white and menacing in the darkness that surrounds them.

After a moment, he begins to speak to himself again: "Wind is blowing from the ... west. Unobstructed." A sniff, "Salt. From the ocean. We're in East Gotham. Cape Carmine, maybe. Swing closer."

As the cage swings closer to the cliff face and smacks heavily against it, the Bat's hand lashes out clutching a batarang and chips a small fleck of stone. It topples through the air, bouncing off the bars of the cage and threatening to fall through them.

He glances urgently at Orphan, determined not to lose that rock.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
She has this intensity in her eyes. Darkness or not, she flickers in and out of the light as the cage swings, and every time her eyes are on him. This isn't worship; it's a simpler thing than that. Understanding. He has a plan, and she's taking knowledge through her eyes like lightning.

The words cause no change. She leans when needed, she waits a moment...she snatches the rock out of the air, her eyes finally leaving him to watch it fall. She knew. She knew, and was ready. He would find it in his hand, pressed there a moment. She maintains a hold on the rock in case he wants her to have it.

For a moment though, she scans the cliffside. Looking for handholds. Planning ahead.

The truly odd thing, where he pulled that Batarang from? That got not a twitch.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
His eyes raise to Orphan's appreciatively, though it would be difficult to read through the cowl for anyone but the most naturally talented at reading people - of whom she is the foremost. He takes the rock, turning it in his hand for a moment thoughtfully and holding it up to one eyelet thoughtfully.

"Diabase basalt. Not Cape Carmine. New Gotham. Between Blackman and Vern Reed. East of the GCU Campus. Good, we can work with that."

Satisfied that they're not stranded far from land, he once again works on making the cage swaying. Not to rest against the cliff face to strike it hard, throwing himself away at the last moment to avoid any injury. The left side of the cage twists and bends with each strike against the rocks.

"Push," he demands of Orphan, "Swing."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Not exactly. She pushes, but she does it with a foot through the cage. Against the wall when they're close, she angles the tilt just slightly. Then she moves with him at the apex, adding to the outward motion.

Oh, she knows striking. Bruce could tell that the angle has changed. They're going to return, it's happening, and she places her hand on him just for a moment. To steady...him?

Because she's changed how the swing is going, and they're going to hit exactly on the corner of the cage. Like the difference between a hammer and a chisel, or a push versus a pinpoint strike. The damage to the cage would be exponentially higher.

There's definite groaning in it now, if there wasn't before!

Bruce Wayne has posed:
There's a momentary frown, and a glance down at the hand steadying him. For all the ease with which Orphan reads his intentions, he has not quite mastered the art. Nevertheless, he trusts the vigilante to do the right thing. He remains where he is, watching as the angle of the cage changes in just such a way to strike the cliffs at an odd angle. The bars twist awkwardly and snap in places, creating a gap.

Seeing an opening, the Bat lunges forward. He grabs the twisted, disconnected bars in both hands. Beneath the suit he wears, his biceps and forearms tense and strain against the material. His teeth grind and his brow furrows deeply. He puts all of his substantial strength into drawing the bars apart and, weakened as they are, they begin to screech. Soon the gap is wide enough - not for him, but for Orphan.

Still holding it in place he looks back at her and then jerks his head in the direction of the gap.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Back at her? Oh, you jest. She's there the instant that there's room. Anyone else could be thought, they're abandoning him. They're a coward, leaving him behind. Cassandra is there because that's the plan. He knows it. So does she.

She squirms out like a monkey, the bar taking a slice from her hip as she does; it's that tight. Then she hangs on the bars, the outside placement allowing her to put her feet in place. To give her the leverage, to help pry.

It doesn't help that neither one of them waited for the cage to stop swinging. Far from it, it's still moving actively, and the vibration in the chain suggests that some form of machinery may be becoming active. She lets him know that she's felt it by the merest lift of her eyes. Nothing more, her body is using considerable force to open. That. Gap.

The cage actually presses her into the wall one time, the sharp rocks at her back. She does not care. Together they may be enough.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
There's a flash of concern on the Bat's face as Orphan is injured and injured again. A mental admonishment is inflicted upon himself, resenting the circumstances that put the both of them in this trap. But it doesn't keep him from working, focusing his attention on breaking open the side of the cage with her help.

"There, almost have it - "

The piercing screech of metal heralds the side of the cave coming away entirely, ripping from its mountings and toppling away down into the water below. Batman launches himself through the grab, turning even as the jagged edges slice at his cape and suit. Fingers find handholds despite the wet, slick basalt surface of the cliff. He clings on with one arm, turning about at the waist to look around them. Then a glance upwards.

"Climb."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Did he feel her hand on his, when he leaped? Did she step up and make sure that the Batman was out, that he was able to grab a handhold of his own, as Cassandra found one of the ones she'd scouted? Did even for a second she reach out, grab part of his clothing? Did she help?

No. She did not, and he did not. She got out of the way, and she left him to dive out on his own...or die.

Why? She watches him as she hangs from the wall by a single hand, the blood racing in his heart, and she waits for him to decide that he's ready to move. The mortality that he felt, she watches it in him. The decision to survive. The immense power of his will alone. She nods, slowly and intently.

Then? She turns away. Because even cheaters like Cassandra Cain need to focus. Rock climbing is unforgiving of mistakes, and the way up is as long as the one down. If, perhaps, longer to traverse.

She's so silent, her eyes are not listening now. So perhaps it might be a surprise to hear a word. Even if it was...

"Yes."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The word causes no small amount of surprise within Batman. He certainly knows she is capable of such things, but it was such a rare occurrence that he hardly ever expected it. She would easily register the surprise on his face, translated in whatever way her brain chose to recognize such things in the absence of language.

He remains still for a moment, clinging to the cliff face alongside her as the cage groans and complains on its chain. A moment later, as the glowing clock marks 'zero', the chain breaks and the cage plummets down into the tumult of water and jagged metal. The seaspray catches them both, leaving the rockface slick and their costumes drenches.

Slowly, like someone allowing themselves a guilty treat in the dark where none can see, his mouth crooks into a slight half smile.

"Damn right."

Together, they climb.