949/The Bat and the Scorpion

The Bat and the Scorpion
Date of Scene:	03 April 2020
Location:	A cave in Gotham's cliffs.
Synopsis:	The meeting of equals, and plans are made. Bear finally meets Goliath.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Samuel Morgan

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Damian Wayne has posed:
     The text had gone out to Sam after school. The instructions said to meet at the coordinates, and bring rope.

  Damian's workshop was on the side of the cliffs of Bristol Township, New Jersey. The boy and his bat dragon had found a cave outcropping from the side, inside however, was two branches, one, a hay bed for Goliath (and Damian himself), along with a small workshop, so far, the only piece in the engine lift was a helmet, a metal stylized skull with a glowing red X on the skulls face.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    There are two kinds of messages that Sam pays instant attention to. One category is the emergency messages that sometimes come through to his phone from SHIELD, summoning him or telling him to expect a car. The other category is any messages from Damian. So when the text hit his phone earlier that day, the technopath hadn't even as much as glanced at the device, immediately took an earlier ferry home and stocked up on what he assumed were going to be the necessities. Thanks to the hyperloop, he makes it to Gotham in record time.

    Now he's roaming the cliffs, on the way to the coordinates he'd been sent, and keeping a constant eye out for traps, ambushes, ambushers and any suspicious glint in the middle or far distance, a coil of sturdy rope over his shoulder. With him is Bear, although for once the canine is in slightly different attire. Rather than the ubiquitous high visibility vest, the Shepherd came dressed in his stealth K-9 gear, courtesy of the quartermaster at the Triskelion who has waited in vain for Sam's kit to be returned after the Wakanda mission.

    He can go on waiting.

    Both boy and dog seem to have little difficulty navigating the narrow paths and the treacherous rocks, making steady and fairly rapid progress.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian had waited at the cave's mouth for Sam's arrival. Of course, the other assassin does not disappoint. "Sam. Bear." He says in greeting. Arms crossed in front of him and legs parted wide.

  "You succeeded in your mission?" Obviously he did, or else he wouldn't be here. But niceties were...nice. Creating a semblance of normalcy, given his current living situation.

  "Welcome to Gotham."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Damian." The taciturn greeting had become almost a parody of itself by now, conveying more meaning and emotion than so short an exchange was ever intended to. Clearly, Sam is glad to be back, and happy to see his boyfriend.

    "All objective achieved, no casualties. I brought you a souvenir." It's not much. When the teenager is done digging in one of his large pockets for the thing, it turns out to be a small plastic and metal thing, seemingly of no great consequence. A jumper from an old AT-style computer motherboard. "And no offense, but Gotham is exactly how I've always heard it described. What's up?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "A cesspool of scum and villainy? Perfect place for the League to infiltrate and destroy. Before my mother stepped in and addressed whom my sperm donor was." He tsks loudly with a >tt<.

  The jumper is observed, a small chuckle is exchanged. "Either you travelled back in time or..." Yeah, he can put two and two together here.

  "I need another set of eyes on a project I am working on. I am growing weary of sitting around and not doing anything..."

  Damian starts to lead the two into the workshop. With the helmet on full display.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Don't let the Kim family catch you with that. I hear they still practice execution via anti-air artillery." If the jumper wasn't enough of a clue, that most certainly was. It's perhaps bad form to talk in even veiled terms about where he's been, but Sam also trusts Damian to keep that secret. Between the two of them, they're sure keeping quite a few. He follows into the caves, smiling at the set-up.

    "Had a place just like this a few years ago. Nobody ever expects anyone to actually stay in a cave, but they're better in almost every way than a conventional safe house. And at least you know who contributed to your genetic material. Mine's a list at least two dozen long, never been interested in finding out who's on it."

    The helmet... now that gets his attention. And he smiles, almost immediately. "Oh now... is that why you wanted me to come over? Does that pre-date my reveal or do great minds really do think alike?"

    Bear for his part... is sniffing around. There's a scent in the caves that he's very interested in. It smells ferocious. And friendly.

Damian Wayne has posed:
    "Indeed, literally no one thinks of it. It starts off as a joke but safe houses are much less secure than rock and one entrance/exit."

  "Some people just want fun, and it includes blowing from a gun." Yep, he was familiar with the pirate style execution method, and had been impressed at the psychological warfare of it. No one wants to be strapped to a cannon's bore and a cannonball ripping through them like tissue paper. "It was a product of circumstance. Built in the last few days. Though I did want another's input here. I need a suit, money is no object, and I need it to be high end. As bulletproof as possible, and as flexible as possible. I've also been toying around with the possibility of adaptive camouflage.

  "Then there's the question of my ninjato. They will need to be adapted for use in this manner.

  Bear could definitely trace into the other side of the cave, where a crimson red Bat Dragon slept, Damian's most faithful guardian: Goliath.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Bear traipses away, to go say hello to Goliath, one guardian to another.

    Sam doesn't wait for permission and approaches the work in progress, lifting the helmet and giving it a critical look. It certainly gets points for style. "There's always going to be a tradeoff. Personally I err on the side of armor, but then I also supplement it with a powered exoskeleton, which offsets the weight and mobility penalties. With the right alloys, a suit like that could even augment your range of motion, and certainly your speed and strength. Of course I speak in general terms." Because he doesn't want Damian to think he even once doubts his physical prowess.

    He weighs the helmet one-handed, lifting and lowering it several times using only his right hand, thinking. Calculating. "Here's the thing. When you say money isn't a problem..." No. Different tack.

    "The right alloys exist. Lightweight, durable, certainly bulletproof. The problem with a project like this is always two-fold... control and power. The control issue can be worked out, but you have to put in the work getting used to the suit. Power..."

    Now he looks directly at Damian, his eyes glowing a gentle blue. "I can build a microfusion device. But the owner of the copyright is going to know, and he's going to be pissed. Is there anyone at Wayne Tech that I can talk to, so I can modify the design and stop it being an obvious copy? And I appreciate the need for secrecy and safety, but there's not enough equipment in this cave to fabricate a suit, or weapons, to the standard you need. We're going to need a lab, a modern lab."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian does a bit of a nod, keeping up with the other young assassin in the room. "You mean..." He thumps at his chest. "I have one person in mind who'd be helpful at WayneTech..."

  "But that may also key in one of my adopted brothers in to what I'm doing out here." Which Damian would certainly find undesirable. "What's your thinking?" He asks, looking to probably his one true non-familial friend.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Tap tap tap go the fingers along the rim of the helmet, as Sam organises his thoughts. He tends to think things through before opening his mouth, probably a remnant of being trained in an organisation not known to have much time for idle chatter. "I can do some of the work in the shop at Happy Harbor, but to be honest, even my own project is starting to outgrow that place. At least I can build the internals there, but to forge the alloys, get them all fitted, program the control software..." which had been successfully tested at the science fair, even if the judges there weren't aware of it. Let them all focus on the fact that he 'accidentally' built a coil gun, he prefers it that way.

    "What we need is a clean room, fabrication equipment, access to raw materials. If this didn't have to stay a secret, I'd take it to Stark, they definitely have the tooling there. I was hoping you knew someone discreet in the R&D department at Wayne to help me with a fuel source and give me the tools and space to build both of our suits at the same time. As it stands... and I hate to mention this, but..."

    Well, out with it.

    "... maybe we should go have a look at the Titan tower?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     The mention of Titan's Tower...automatically puts a sour on Damian's face. "Let us find another route, if at all possible. Titan's Tower is a route I would rather only take at a last ditch opportunity. But...if I took this to Wayne Tower, literally floors underneath my father's feet. The question would be who could keep it under wraps. And away from Tim Drake's prying eyes."

  Meanwhile, the sleeping Goliath is found by Bear, large yellow eyes open and immediately he smells two new scents in the cave. Another boy...SNORF and a dog. The bat dragon stretches and stands on all fours, looking at Sam with a bit of curiosity and taking a sniff at the trusty canine. The faint scent of Damian being on him, that must mean Damian trusts this one, yes!

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    'Whurf!' Bear sits when Goliath stirs, staying where he is while being sniffed. After that he tilts his head and lolls his tongue in greeting, wondering if this friendly furry thing also speaks fluent dog.

    In the other part of the cave, Sam is giving the whole thing some thought. "The only other route I can think of is to raid either WayneTech or Stark Industries. Steal what we need. Or reprogram their equipment to build for our needs, and then intercept the shipments. Either way it would have to be a slow, methodical process."

    His fingers tap the helmet again, before he puts it back on the stand. "I can see the design you're going for. Intimidation, right? Use the atavistic fear of the symbology as a weapon to gain a moment's advantage? Not a bad idea if you can pull it off, but I find that too many vigilantes rely on it too much." Pause. "And if this Tim Drake is an issue, maybe we should eliminate him early?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Goliath's massive frame makes even a German Shepard look like a pekinese. But the big bat dragon lowered himself to get as close to Bear's height and gives him a small lick on the nose in retort. He was certainly much like a dog, in a giant sleeve.

  "After hours, Wayne Tower? Or...fuck." He sighs, looking at the helmet. "There is no getting around it, will there? I will approach someone at Wayne Enterprises. Perhaps he will see the pretext of what we are trying to do. It also lets me not show my face around that insufferable Colette." Yeah, there was a schism there, and he was trying to stay away from her specifically. "I already attempted to eliminate Tim Drake. It would not please father for one of his children to be put into the forever box." As much as that pained him to say.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "I would imagine not. But if you ever need it done discreetly, you've got my number." Yup. Some people would die for one another. Sam, it turns out, is happy to kill for someone. "And in theory, there's another option."

    His eyes stop glowing, and there's an easy smile on his face. "I approach Wayne Tech. Tell them about my project, get the necessary equipment and resources, and then I build two. They need never know that we know each other." There is, of course, an obvious flaw in that plan. But Sam hadn't figured that Damian would have told anyone about him... it's not something that ever came up on his end, having no family to contend with.

    "I take it Colette pushed the whole recruitment angle a bit too hard? I know how you're feeling, I'd rather start my own team, or lead my own team, than be recruited."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "She worded it like I have to prove myself to everyone. I do not have to do anything but stay brown and die. I did not lead multiple assassination squads and suffer for decades just to be told I am less than qualified." He spits on the ground. "So, this is how we have it. It will be a rough go, but we can get through and win."

  He turns looking to the other assassin and looks to him. "I trust the beings in this cave. No one else."

  He goes back to the WayneTech laptop that was on the workbench, and shows the plans for the Red X suit. "Stealth overall. Fear itself can only manifest in the target. When all is said and done, I want to be a ghost. Unseen until he wants to be seen... Holy shit..." He starts to find inspiration. "A Phantasm."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Win what though? To be able to achieve an objective, that objective has to be clearly stated." Leave it up to Sam to poke that hole into the pep talk. He's been hanging around professional assassins for too long...

    "I've led my share of teams too. Usually hand picked, saves having to look after the dead weight. And there's always plenty of that, even in teams that are used to working together. Conflicting personalities, conflicting agendas, social friction, ego... It helps when you have authority to shoot the people who disobey, but I prefer my team to follow willingly. Not out of respect for me, but because they believe in the same mission, and understand that I'm the best person to see that mission achieved." There. Sam's leadership philosophy. But he does come over to look at the plans, studying them. "Good name. Not sure if it's already taken, worth a check. I like the design, it's a straight forward concept. None of the flashy nonsense of the Iron Man, no bulk to make a statement like the Crimson Dynamo. And not obviously stolen from someone else, like whoever that new Stark knock-off is."

    The plans are committed to memory, and his analytical mind is already breaking it down into sub-projects, each with their own requirements and logistical issues. "There's one more option. Princess Shuri of Wakanda."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "To break out on our own without the oversight of anyone. And establish our own team of Titans. Without that insufferable woman." Yup, that was Colette he spoke of.

  Damian gives it more of a thought, then starts to look at his CAD drawing. "Red X..." Yeah it was pretty much a given, with the helmet that he had made, and the rest of the suit. "Thermoptic camouflage, shuriken, and a small arsenal of concealment and distraction weaponry."

  A hand rests on his chin for a moment, looking at the screen. "Agreed, less flashy than Iron Man, and the Crimson Dynamo. There's a Stark knock-off?" He asks, looking to Sam with an inquisitive look.

  "You think she could be convinced to help our cause? Remember, my name cannot be a factor here. The only way that would work, is if we can get access to Applied Sciences at Wayne Enterprises."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "One of those people who got the attention of the new Hawkeye. She's looking to start a new young avengers team. I gave her some pointers on operational security after she came snooping around Happy Harbor." And that's all he'll say about that. But the temptation to co-opt both of those recruiters into the same team is pretty high.

    Having a good idea of the suit, Sam starts thinking weaponry. "Close in work? Blades, thrown edged, batons? A couple of smoke grenades and flashbangs? Not hard to do, that's the easy bit. I take it you want to avoid commercial stuff for the grenades?" He looks over to Damian for confirmation. "Saves time, but it's traceable."

    After a while, he runs a hand through his hair and turns away from the laptop, blinking in rapid succession to not just commit all the information to memory, but to also start processing. "I've had a few run-ins with her. I know for a fact she has access to technology that she's desperately trying to hide, but there's no hiding that kind of thing from me. She wants... No, I can't tell you what she wants with perfect certainty, but she has a philosophy that lends itself to interventionism and personal responsibility. It can be twisted to serve our cause."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "Very close, blades, thrown edged, and my own design..." He brings up a second CAD drawing. Smaller than ping-pong ball sized smoke pellets, and flash bang grenades. "I have the equipment for these. Their construction is remarkably simple." It had been a League design from when he was ten. Before then it was punches of powder in paper sachets. "I have the means to procure the powders needed without being traced back to anyone. And a barrel of each of them will last months, much more efficient than normal milspec."

  Yes, it seems that Damian had not cut off all ties to the League, or at least League contacts. "Another pious personality...great." He often hated that kind of viewpoint, mainly because it clashed with his own zeal. "What do you think is the best road?" Certainly, Damian feels that his own connections are burned bridges at this point. So Sam is the only one he can rely on.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Ah, of course..." Yes, he can read the chemical composition of those pellets, and the design of the bombs. "Don't even need a chemical lab for that. That's... that's very ingenious." Praise where praise is due. And Sam always enjoys learning new designs. But the other question... he has to sigh and think about that for a moment again.

    "Honestly? We don't have the equipment to build both the suits and the power sources. We'll have to steal the equipment if we don't want to involve someone else. That means raiding either Stark, Wayne or STAR labs. The only other option is to use someone else's facilities, but that automatically means identifying ourselves. I understand you don't want to let your father know about your skills and your intention to be a vigilante, I can't think of any father that wouldn't be opposed to that. But in the end, you have the connections to make this happen. If not, we'll have to throw the dice and trust one of the other major players. It's your call, but my recommendation is to sound out either Stark directly, or your contact in Wayne Tech."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "It is worth a shot to speak to the R&D head at Wayne. Hopefully he can see this as something no one else needs to know about."

  The young man takes a look around the workshop. "I believe Bear has found Goliath..." He trails off, noticing that one guardian was no longer in the room. "I think you will like him." He comments, with a smirk. "Bruce Wayne can barely comprehend just who his son's mother is, much less what she does. He hardly has an idea of what I did. So, the less Father knows, the better off we will be. But...Wayne Tech beats all others. Hands down. The only one close is Stark, and certainly not Lex Luthor. Now, tell me what we will need for the two of us." He asks, even sliding over the laptop to his friend. He wants details, so he can start shopping. "I'll turn in some bearer bonds tomorrow, no class on Friday, and speak with Fox myself."

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Oh, do I have a shopping list for you..."

    With a smile, Sam cracks his knuckles and sits down, placing his hands on the keyboard and ... starts typing? Must be an affectation, because text is filling the screen faster than his fingers are touching any keys. Bear wanders back in, looking very proud of himself for having found a new friend, and wanting to introduce this friend to his human, but... he knows that look of pleasant concentration.

    Instead, Bear comes to sit next to Damian, looking adoringly at his human, waiting until he has attention to spare again...