Owner	Pose
Phoebe Beacon	The City district, the beating heart of Gotham's city hall, the banks of the Gateway Bridge, links to Old Gotham -- this was their beat tonight. And it was a slowish night on patrol, trying to track down any lingering amounts of Phear on the streets, though there where whispers in the underbelly of Gotham that whoever was providing the Escabedos in Gotham with the drug -- along with the Escabedos themselves -- had a hate-on for a certain bird.     Maybe that's why Balm was tasked with patrol with Robin tonight.     And for a little extra pointy protection, The Red Arrow was invited to patrol with the adoptive siblings tonight.
Damian Wayne	"I don't know why father insisted I have backup. This isn't the first contract that has been on my head," says a frowning Robin, who is sitting at the very edge of the roof, legs dangling over the edge. He's been a grousing little shit since this patrol began. A frustrated Damian is a pain-in-the-ass Damian.     He glances over to see Phoebe and Red Arrow. "Still, at least he sent along babysitters with adequate skill sets." Yeah, he's in a mood.
Emiko Queen	Emiko looks over at Damian and offers a quick grin, "Well I -am- older than you. Don't make me send you to your room without dessert, Master Robin. Or put parental locks on the tv." Chuckling, she looks out over the city and lets out a breath, "This is definitely more familiar, though. Feels more like home." To Phoebe, she asks, "What can you tell me about this drug, Phear, and the Escabedos? This is the first I'm hearing of any of it. Not too surprising, I try not to linger in Gotham without a reason or invite out of respect, but it does put me on sort of an off-kilter position."
Phoebe Beacon	"I was informed this was a good opportunity to figuratively spread my wings." Balm replies with a slight smile as she looks to Robin, eyebrows rising up behind her domino, "And follow an experienced patroller in case something should happen." The Truth? Mostly. Definitely to be on-hand should anyone get hurt.     And at Red Arrow's question, she motions over to the seated young man with his legs dangling over the edge.     "He's got point on that one. All I've learned about it is from Robin's work." she explains, her lips curling into a smile. Credit where it's due, Robin.
Damian Wayne	Like most teenage boys, Damian likes to look like he knows stuff. Fortunately for him, he's an actual genius with advanced knowledge of a wide array of disciplines. "Phear is a new drug that is being circulated in Gotham. It's a pink powder that can be snorted or smoked. It causes an actual heightened, hallucinogenic fear effect. I ran an analysis on the Bat computer and it shares the unique chemical signature of Scarecrow's toxin."     He spins around to face his patrolmates, tugging his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his shins. Gods, the edge of his butt is literally hanging off the building! A strong wind would push him over. But he either doesn't notice, doesn't care, or is showing off. Hard to say with Damian, it could be any of the above.     "I put a very severe dent in the Escabedos phear distribution. Wasn't hard, they're kinda lame." A small shrug. "And now they have a contract out on me. Anyone who kills me is going to be extremely rich." He arches one eyebrow. "So, you know, if either of you are looking for a couple extra bucks..."
Emiko Queen	"And people -want- to get this effect?" Emiko shakes her head, then huffs out a breath, "People are strange." She sits on the edges, heels of her hands on the edge of the ledge, feet braced against the wall. As if she were going to launch herself off at any moment. And she might! Little is known about this particular Arrow. "So.. we could just go take out the Escabedos, and that would end the contract. No money, no contract. Or do we not do that in Gotham?" Emiko looks between the two Bat Kids and lifts both brows. She's honestly curious, which means she's honestly considering just going and wiping out a gang to remove a contract.
Phoebe Beacon	"You are literally asking the wrong adoptees," Balm points out, "if they want extra cash."     However she looks at the both of them, her lips pursing a moment as she waves her hands. "No, Red Arrow, we don't do that here." With BAtman's knowledge. "And yeah, people go to Haunted Houses to get scared. It's the adreniline rush." the more medically-minded of the three states, and she leans her head back in a little huff of breath.     "Besides, we don't know who's fronting the cash, or to which groups the contract was offered. So we're just taking it nice and easy."
Damian Wayne	Robin spins back around and re-dangles his legs over the rooftop. "The solution seems pretty simple to me. We just go find Escabedos and keep beating them until we find one who doesn't enjoy broken bones." A smirk. "But father assigned me minders, so you guys tell me how we should do this."     In response to Emiko's plan: "I acknowledge the effectiveness of your plan, Red. But I am trying to make big changes in my life, and I'm starting with putting killing at the very bottom of my list of ways to solve problems. Besides, this is father's town and he doesn't want us killing." Damian is surely a willful little scoundrel, but for all of that he considers Bruce's word to be inviolable law.
Emiko Queen	"I didn't say -dead-, just -out-. You can't lead through a breathing tube in a hospital bed." Emiko still spares a moment for a wistful sigh and the days where obstacles were easier to remove. Not that she -enjoys- killing, mind. But it -does- tend to end conflicts. Still, she's in someone else's yard and is playing by their rules. To that effect, she looks to Phoebe and Damian and lifts a shrug, "I'm the third party contractor here, I'm along to make sure you both get out if things go sideways. That said, I'm always down for beating the bloody snot out of drug dealers. We're not going to end the contract until we know who put the hit out. Barring boring computer work, that means hitting the streets and ass-kicking up the chain to find them."
Phoebe Beacon	Phoebe looks over at the two, and then takes her breath and breathes out.     "So I'm in charge then, that makes things both complicated and easier. Weirdly." she breathes out, and then joints the two on the side of the building.     "Well. We can either sit here and brood or stretch our legs." Phoebe comments, and she turns, back to the abyss, and then she simply tilts over and begins to fall to the street before her grapple gun goes off, and she turns, making a swing towards another building.
Damian Wayne	There aren't all that many things that elicit a positive emotional response from Damian, but this is one of them.     "Hell yeah!" Robin exclaims. From his sitting position he launches himself into the void without even a moment's hesitation. He lets himself fall for a bit because, you know, falling is hella fun. But eventually he fires his line launcher and creates yet another hole in the side of one of Gotham's buildings. The powerful monofilament line goes taut and Robin begins to swing.     << Lead the way, Balm. Let's go kick some Escabedo ass. >>     Robin glances over his shoulder back to make sure Red Arrow is coming too.
Emiko Queen	Emiko is absolutely coming! Though she's not behind Damian. She's above him. Where the two Bat Kids are using grapple guns, Emiko has launched off the build to open up a wingsuit, catching an updraft to swoop up into the air and glide along the currents to follow the other two. Sleek black with red piping to let her streak through the air with the ease of a BASE jumper. << Up top, Birdy. Got eyes in the sky, do we have a heading, Balm? >> Her HUD is tracking them both, in addition to scanning the streets below while they glide along. There's something that's just FUN about a wingsuit, at least part of it being the danger involved, but part is the freedom of the glide. Master of one's own destiny, for at least a few moments.
Phoebe Beacon	Balm doesn't mind swinging through the air. She draws herself up as she releases the grarpple line, turns, and lands with a skid on another rooftop, taking off running again, and she breathes out. Gotham's wet, awful, polluted air.     "Looks like there's a report of some gang activity a couple blocks up. Let's go ask for some information, yeah?"
Damian Wayne	Damian's mood has rapidly shifted now that the group is in motion and actually doing something. Robin lands on the same roof as Balm at nearly the same time and runs alongside her. He grins. "Sup, sis, this too tiring for you?" Gotta tease your big sister. It's mandatory. He jumps when she jumps, he fires his line launcher when she does.     << Red, you see anything up ahead? Give us a sitrep. >>     Robin glances at the readout on his HUD.     << The GCPD alert is showing as 12th Avenue. >>
Emiko Queen	Soaring overhead, Emiko tightens her frame to put on a little more speed, looking this way and that, letting her visor pick up the various bits of activity. Spotting what looks like two groups clashing in a parking lot, she keys in and checks down the street, then up the avenue to see if she can spot the cops incoming yet. << Got two groups. Dozen total, five on the left, seven on the right. Carrying clubs, got five pieces in play, one has a fire axe. Looks like maybe a turf dispute for the corner of 12th and Vine. Clear on incoming so far, the GCPD will be a few minutes. Go over Ernie's Bar, around the No Tell Hotel. Can get the drop on them from the brownstone or the tenement flanking the lot. >> For her part, she circles until the other two are in position so she doesn't start the party early.
Phoebe Beacon	"Wanted to make sure you could keep up, little bird." Balm replies with a smile, swinging in tandem and keeping easy stride with Damian as they swing around. She goes over the sign for Ernie's, flipping off the front of it and rolling along another flat rooftop before using a flagpole to make the sharp turn around the No Tell.     Her domino feed gives her the information she needs as it updates based on Emiko's information, and as she comes around the tenement building, up and over, she dips her gloved hands into her belt and produces a pair of smoke pellets.     "Dropping smoke."     she states into the comms, and with a hard throw of the pellets, she looks to give the heroes a cover of smoke to appear out of, adding to the confusion.
Damian Wayne	Damian knows better. He's been trained better both by the League and by the Batman. But he's been so damned frustrated lately and he really has a lot of agitation to work through. So he zips into the fray long before his teammates. He swings right through the smoke, lets go of the line, and tucks and rolls directly into the melee.     "I heard you boys have been looking for me," Robin says as he goes into motion. His is a confounding, swirling combat pattern. Despite his reed-thin frame, he is able to strike with perfect form and precision. In the space of a few seconds, three grown men are already down with broken this or that.     << You guys better hurry or you're going to miss out on the fun. >>
Emiko Queen	<< Robin wai-... shit, there he goes. >> The benefit of the bird's eye view is that she sees exactly when Damian goes rushing into the fight. Angling down sharply, she dives for the grouping. This could be suicidal if anything goes wrong, but she's managed ti time it just right, and is lucky enough her wingsuit is a good one. Ten feet from the ground, she opens the suit suddenly so she can slam into one of the guys at the edges of the smoke cloud, hitting feet first into his back and using him as a springboard to leap at another. Grabbing around the ganger's shoulder to drag down that club-holding arm, her momentum is shifted to swing around the ganger's side as she wrenches the arm back and slams him into the ground. A third is brought down with a kick to the back of the knee then grabbing the man's forehead and slamming it into the pavement. That's a concussion! Maybe a fracture. << Dammit Robin, that was ... FIVE O'CLOCK! >> She calls out one of the gunmen even as she's drawing her bow out and reaching for an arrow.
Phoebe Beacon	<<ROBIN. DON'T GO IN -->> Balm hisses over their comms, and Balm dives after her Errant bother, hanging at the sidelines, unwilling to take on friendly fire.     BUt she gets in a couple licks herself. A throwing knife -- not a batarang or a wingding -- sails between Red Arrow and Robin and strikes one man in the shoulder joint, making him drop a crowbar. She slides in, her staff extending as she sweeps another off his feet, delivering a kick to his solar plexus to knock the breath otu of him most painfully, and she turns, raising a hand as she breathes out: "Ignatis!" - and a small ball of fire strikes another in the chest.     A red laser sight also peirces the gloom around them, in the midst of the chaos.
Damian Wayne	Breaking every major rule of engagement, Robin twirls through the crowd more like a dancer than a fighter. He spins. A knee. He ducks. An elbow. He leaps. A foot. He summersaults. A head butt. It is easy to see why the number of people who have been in a battle against Damian Wayne and walked away is a very small list indeed. He's quite simply elemental.     But this entire situation was a set-up from the very beginning. And soon enough the red dot appears on Robin's head. And if the armor-piercing, high-caliber bullet were to have hit him there, no amount of Phoebe's magic would save him. Fortunately, at the very moment the round was fired, Robin leaped up in the air with a perfectly executed jump spinning hook kick. His foot hit the gangbanger's head at the very same moment that the round pierced through Robin's armor, in his stomach and out his back.     The look of sudden surprise on Robin's face as he falls to the cement might be amusing in some other, less dark circumstance.
Emiko Queen	<< SNIPER! Robin's down! Balm, get him under cover, I got these! >> 'The rest' consisting first of the sniper themselves. Turning the bow and angling up, Emiko peers, watching, aiming. She sees the faint glint of light against the scope... and fires without hesitation. Depending on if the sniper was still sighting or had started getting up will depend on if they live or not. She doesn't have the time or give a fuck to care which at this moment. Dead and disabled are the same difference just now. Turning, she whips the end of the composite bow across the face of one of the last gangers that had been moving towards the fallen vigilante, pulling an arrow and firing it point-blank into the man's foot, pinning him to the pavement. She'll back towards Robin, looking everywhere, an arrow nocked and ready to go ta a moment's notice.
Phoebe Beacon	There are very few instances where Phoebe would outright break one of Batman's rules for her while on patrol.     They had the fight well in hand. Three very skilled fighters, trained by some of the best in the Justice League at their talents.     But that moment she felt her own guts wrench as she turns, seeing the red spot. Her dark eyes go wide, and she felt the world move in slow motion as she reaches out to try and pull Damian down as he leaps, her legs folding beneath her, arms outstretched,     Emiko's arrow strikes true. One less sniper in the world.     The screaming of the gangland with the arrow in the foot was distant to Phoebe as she catches Damian, and covers him with her body.     "No -- no no no -- don't move." she whispers quietly.     "You're going to be okay -- Red, cover us --" she whispers into the coms -- because obviously, EMiko doesn't need to be told.     Phoebe closes her eyes. Cracks in her armor reveal the glow along her skin, and she focuses her magic on Damian's stomach, her arms and hands trying to cradle him, to heal him from the inside out, the AP round buried in the pavement behind where Robin had been kicking.
Damian Wayne	The desert. Brilliant, burning sunlight beating down. An endless vista. A handsome teenage boy with black hair and swarthy skin hikes through the dunes with the aid of a walking stick. He is dressed in a white desert robe common among the local tribes. Behind him, his footprints in the sand wind up and down the dunes, leading back, back out of sight. Ahead, a man sits in the lotus position in the sand. He is past his middle age, but he looks hale and healthy, vital and potent. He is Ra's al Ghul and he has seen many lifetimes.     The teen walks closer and then kneels in the hot sand before him. "Grandfather," he says in greeting.     "Ibn," Ra's says in return, greeting Damian with his birth Arabic name. "It is agreeable to see you."     Ibn al Xu'ffasch, Heir to the Demon, and Son of the Batman touches his forehead to the ground as a sign of respect. "My time has ended, grandfather. I am here to study at your side as you always wanted."     Ra's al Ghul doesn't really ever smile. He certainly doesn't do so now. But there is a certain...softness on his face as he considers his grandson. "No, Ibn, your time has not ended. There is more work for you to do. I still have much for you to accomplish in my name."     Perplexed, the teen looks at his grandfather. Ra's is rarely wrong, so Ibn does not question him. "Grandfather, how will I know what you wish of me?"     Ra's al Ghul say simply, "Look for my coming. You will see my sign."     Robin's eyes suddenly open wide and he draws in a loud breath, his hands going to his wound.
Phoebe Beacon	The wound that is healing.     When Robin's eyes open, he might see a light, rose gold like the sun bouncing off red desert dunes, because Phoebe's exposed skin is glowing with myriad little lines, so focused was she on 'fixing' what ailed Damian Wayne.     And when he gasps for breath, she's still holding him.     "It's okay. It's okay. Red Arrow took out the sniper."     Back in Gotham. Phoebe's voice gentle.
Damian Wayne	The prone Robin looks down at his stomach. He sees the blood. He feels the pain. But, too, he feels the warm, beautiful healing magic of his adoptive sister, Phoebe. His gaze goes over her form, glowing with such lovely colors. He lets his head flop back against the hard cement. That little pain is the very least he deserves.     "I fucked up," is all he can manage. His chest heaves with his labored breathing, but the worst of it is past. The wound is nearly fully healed, and certainly is no longer life-threatening.     Robin just lies there and stares up at the night sky.
Phoebe Beacon	"You made a mistake and you'll learn from it." Phoebe replies to Robin, and she gently punches his shoulder. "But let's get out of here. Police are incoming in two minutes. We can talk when we get you home." she states quietly, and she gets to her feet, and offers Robin a hand up.     "You might be dizzy if you stand up too quick. First rule of magic. It's OK to throw up." she gives a smile to him.
Damian Wayne	Well, he doesn't throw up, but certainly he is not at full capacity as he accepts his sister's help to stand. He looks more ashamed than anything else. He won't make eye contact with Phoebe. Instead he glances around under the pretense of surveying the scene. He doesn't immediately see Red Arrow.     << Thanks, Red.>> Sheepish tone, very un-Damian-like.
Phoebe Beacon	Phoebe breathes out, and looking to Red Arrow, she gives a nod of recognition. "Thank you for your help. I'll see him back. Give your boyfriend my regards, yeah?" she states, and then she fires off her grapple, accompanied by Robin, and escapes the scene, leaving Gotham's finest with a bit of a mess to clean up.     Home, for the two Batlings, was calling. Possibly because the biomonitors freaked out over Damian.
Emiko Queen	Emiko had watched over the pair while Phoebe worked her magic (literally) on Damian's wound. She doesn't turn around or get distracted, purposely keeping her back to them so she won't be tempted to look. Instead, she makes sure everyone is tied, gagged, or otherwise bound to ensure easy pick up for the police... and that nobody tries anything dumb(er) while they think there's a chance. When Robin comes to with a gasp, there's a note of relief in her expression and she gives a nod to Phoebe, "Anytime. And I'll do that." There's a brief smile for her before Arrow is turning towards where the sniper was. "First I have some garbage to dispose of. And a talk to have with a Big Bad Bat. Better not to wait and make him come to me..." there's steel in her tone, but it's tinged with resignation. She broke a rule in Gotham, but she's not about to try and cover it up. Not from Him, anyways.