Owner	Pose
Bruce Wayne	The weather is cold and biting in Gotham City, but even the chill winds off Delaware Bay cannot account for what has happened to this meatpacking plant in Old Gotham. A thick layer of ice three feet thick covers the entire building, a team of firefighters hacking away at the doorway to chip it away. A cordon of GCPD squad cars surround the building, floodlights trained on the ice giving it an eerie look. <<It's Freeze,>> comes the Batman's voice over the comms, <<Fifteen hostages. Mostly administrative workers and custodial staff. GCPD haven't received any demands.>>
Harper Row	Having already told Cullen she'd be running late, Harper's actually dressed and ready for such a message. Sure she's tailing the scum that had been bothering her brother but as they are hanging out in a pool hall in Old Gotham rather than trolling for victims she'd already diverted to respond to the plant named on the police band. <<Bluebird, incoming,>> she says into the comms built into her recently upgraded costume. <<Good to hear from you again, sir.>>
Tim Drake	Today is THE day. The day Tim finally finishes paying back his dues on all the patrols he's missed thanks to a string of unfortunate injuries and some personal matters that have seen him either grounded or away from Gotham.     So of course it's especially cold tonight. Bitterly, even, which just feels a little too thematically appropriate for Gotham, doesn't it? Red Robin's breath leaves a dissipating fog in the air behind him as he swings between buildings on a grapple line. "<<Red Robin here. I'll be on location in, three minutes.>>" The subtle pause as he calculates a path across the rooftops to the location beacon now highlighted on his HUD.     The rustle of his cape and the quick pop of compressed air as he fires his grapple gun again is the only noise that precedes Red Robin on the scene.     As he stands off to the side, quiet as a ghost and purposefully not alerting the emergency responders to his presence, Tim taps at the control panel on his left gauntlet, working to access information on the building and its surroundings. Potential sewer access, blueprints... something to get them inside.
Selina Kyle	Selina Kyle's chummyness with Gotham's more high profile players is well known, if not necessarily well documented. Victor, though? Victor was on the less... 'social' side of the community, such as it was.     The Catwoman frowns, arms crossed from the vantage point of the building she shares with Batman. "This is bad." She says softly, and sighs.     <<... You sure we want to bring the kids on this one?>> She asks a little dubiously over the comms. <<I mean, no offense, but...>>
Alfred Pennyworth	If he was suffering from jet lag from his recent trip, it wasn't showing. Seated in -the- chair in the Bat Cave, fingers danced acrossed the various consoles and keyboards as he pulled up different feeds and assets available to the Bat Family. "<<Of course they haven't... I imagine he'll have something absurd for you all when you invariably make your presence known, sir,>>" he remarked, pulling up blueprints and cameras to better develop a picture of the scene "<<I'll have everything we can get pulled up in just a moment...>>"
M'gann M'orzz	For Miss Martian, a situation like this would be solved with the liberal application of heat vision and punching through the ice. These options, however, are not available to one 'Nina Knight' aka 'Raptor'. But that's the entire point, to learn how to function without them, to stop leaning on them as a crutch, from the very best humanity has to offer. From somewhere up above, Raptor descends from an unseen aircraft on a line before dropping to the roof of a nearby building. The black clad heroine, in a domino mask and several black scarves wrapped around her neck and face, shivers in the winter air, flexing her fingers in her gloves. The sensation of cold and the body's reaction to it are new experiences for her brought on by the adoption of human almost completely human physiology for this training. <<Raptor in position.>> She says over the comms as she positions herself at the edge of the building, looking down, trying to figure out a way to deal with this that doesn't involve shooting beams of super heated particles from her eyes.
Bruce Wayne	Batman deactivates his comms for a moment, head tilting slightly to one side as he speaks to Catwoman. "They've trained," he offers succinctly, "Freeze is too methodical to tackle alone. Every minute he spends in there, those hostages are at risk." He turns his eyes back down towards the frozen building, reaching up to adjust his communicator and reactivate it. <<Alfred,>> he begins, <<Send in the payload on my mark. Stay clear of the building, everyone.>>
Harper Row	"<<I'm here,>>" Harper says as she arrives on site, on foot -- luckily she was nearby. Finding a position where she can put eyes on the building and also take cover behind a dumpster she mouths to herself 'Payload?' but opts not to ask too much about it on comms. Trusting... but not trusting also... she unslings her gun from its position on her back and confirms its readiness with her ever increasing comfort with it. "<<How much cover do we need for this?>> she eventually asks about the aforementioned payload.
Tim Drake	The information feed coming in from the Batcave proves much more useful than from the Roost, tonight. The benefits of having an actual real live person at the keys in the form of one Alfred Pennyworth, versus the limited scope of automated protocols Tim has programmed himself.     Protocols that he regularly updates, of course, but still.     Red Robin flicks his eyes to the side behind his lenses, minimizing the blueprints taking up the middle of his HUD, to glance up towards the rooftops above. It's Raptor he spots first, actually, making note of her arrival and Bluebird's inbound icon on his minimap before he looks to Batman.     "<<O ye, of little faith,>>" he retorts good-naturedly to Catwoman's concerns, then takes a quick step to the right that shadows him more fully in the overhang of a nearby building. Red Robin shrugs once at Bluebird, then confirms, "<<I'm clear, >>" over comms.
Selina Kyle	Catwoman lightly shrugs her shoulders. "I know. I just keep forgetting that not *all* of your dance partners are gangsters in gimp suits." She says, offering a teasing little smile.     When Tim responds to Selina's question, Selina makes a face and says <<Uhg. I never should have joined your party-chat.>>     Selina winces when Batman gives Alfred the command, and pre-emptively puts her hands over her ears.
Alfred Pennyworth	<<"On your mark, sir,">> Alfred responds simply. The Batwing's approach registers on the family's systems moments before it began it's remote controlled run, coursing in from over the Delaware. "<<No need to worry, Bluebird. I think we've field tested these particular munitions - there's so many...">> he consoled dryly. Heralded only by the rush of air in it's wake, the Batwing swept over the airspace about the cordon.     The craft is gone almost as soon as it arrived, egressing into the overhead cloud coverage, only the faintest of contrails marking the course of a missile. Detonating in two briefly separated sequences, a faint shimmer in the air turned into a blossom of coruscating flame as thermite ignited in an almost perfect circle atop the dome of ice. Fading almost as quickly as it was sparked, the thermite did it's work in it's designed fashion, burning through and exposing a hole to gain access to the plant's roof. <<"I daresay, if you weren't expected, Mister Freeze knows his guests have arrived now...">>
M'gann M'orzz	<<Understood.>> Raptor continues to stand at the edge of the building, waiting for the signal to move. As she does she begins unfurling one of the black scarves from around her neck. There seem to be several of them, enough that her face is still well concealed, and they are quite a bit longer than one would expect for any fashion adjacent purpose. <<Waiting for your signal.>> She shivers in the cold, wrapping one end of the scarf around her right forearm as she waits, while spinning the other end idly with her left hand. From the ease with which it spins, it is almost certainly weighted.
Bruce Wayne	<<There was no chance of surprise, anyway,>> Batman answers grimly over the comms, <<This is an effort to draw us in. Freeze doesn't hole up like this unless he wants to be found. And there's nothing that would interest him in a meat packing plant except warm bodies. Keep your eyes open, people. Red Robin, stick with Bluebrid. You're partners on this.>> As the Batwing deposits the payload, Batman swoops down from his rooftop without warning. The cape flares behind him, slowing his descent so he can land atop the icy rooftop of the plant. His boots skid along the slick surface before he turns them, digging a set of spikes at the heel into the ice to hold him in place. That done, he begins to scale upwards towards the hole left by the thermite payload. <<Raptor, Red Robin, Bluebird. Your priority is the hostages. Do not engage Freeze unless you're given the all clear from me>> He reaches the lip of where the ice and rooftop have melted away, peering down into the icy warehouse freezer below. <<Alfred, keep the Batwing in a holding pattern and repurpose some of the drones for sonar imagining. I want to see what's moving around in there in real time.>>
Harper Row	Partnering up with Tim's not a concern for Harper, only person on the scene she feels she has any degree of true knowledge of. Works out well also as she had toggled to Outsiders comm and had typed a question to him: <<Who's the woman who referred to us as kids? Don't recognize her voice.>> Back on the Bat channel she replies verbally: "<<Understood, sir,>>" and steps out of her previous position of cover to fall into step with Red Robin and follows his lead into action.
Tim Drake	Tim already has his chin tilted upwards, awaiting the Batwing's heralded arrival. Behind his lenses, his eyes go wide as the thermite missiles detonate, though he refrains from whistling in appreciation.     Look, he's not Jason, but Tim is something of a mad scientist at times. Big thing go boom. It's exciting.     "<<Consider yourself lucky you're not in the group text chat. Pretty sure all of us Robins would be spamming you with cat gifs,>>" Red Robin says, and the smile he doesn't generally let show when he's in his costume is at least perfectly evident in his voice. Off-comms, as he moves up to walk beside Bluebird, "Oh, just Catwoman. You know, the notorious thief?"     He nudges her slightly with his elbow. "It's a long story. She's pretty cool, though." Then he taps back into the Bat-frequency. "<<Copy. Buddy system initiated with Bluebird.>>"     The tip of the grapple line he fires off embeds itself with a solid thunk in the ice, and Tim can only shrug at Harper just before he offers her a hand. Then they're being pulled away, up into the sky.     Soon enough both of them are scraping along the ice-covered roof towards the hole, spikes deployed from the soles of Red Robin's boots as well.
Selina Kyle	Lowering her arms, Selina gives a bit of a rueful smile and softly says, "Entrance made." before Batman leaves his perch. Catwoman follows immediately after him, her whip lashing out and swinging her onto the meatpacking plant's rooftop. Like Batman, she slides across the ice, though she deploys her claws and digs them into the ground to stop herself, carving thin lines across a foot or so of rooftop while keeping one leg below her, and one leg stretched out to land in a three point stance.     Catwoman raises to her feet, gives her neck a quick crack... and heaves a sigh at Tim. <<Think I'll stay out of that one.>> she replies in a long-suffering tone. Honestly, if any of them saw the way she types on the phone, she'd lose her mystique anyway. It's for the best.     Selina aims a slightly tense smile to Batman. "Lead the way, Boss."
Alfred Pennyworth	Keying in a tight holding pattern for the Batwing, Alfred toggles through some subroutines as he sets to work on his task while also flipping through some of the family's personal feeds. Situated safely beneath the manor in solitude, he allows himself a smile at the lack of assignment for Catwoman and his private assumptions before turning his attention back to the GCPD and then the newly minted entryway to the plant. <<Working on it now, sir ->> he replied.     A brief alert marked the deployment of drones from the Batwing somewhere up above, coursing down to the scene below. <<It'll be just a moment to configure them for ice density atop the building's infrastructure... I suppose there's no negotiating, since we're doing exactly what he wants?>> he remarked in his fashion as the drone's went through recalibration.
M'gann M'orzz	From her nearby perch, Raptor slings out the black weighted scarf wrapping around an intervening utility pole to swing across to the roof of the meat packing plant, making an entrance not too unlike Selina's own whip cracking approach, except with more fwip and less cracking, more high tensile weighted silk, less leather. Sliding to a halt as she lands, the scarf is drawn back in and wrapped around her arm again with a quick flick of her wrist. <<Prioritize hostages, understood.>> Raptor doesn't get a buddy, but that in itself is probably another test, everything seems to be a test in this training. Still with only one entrance open at the moment, the raven haired young woman doesn't stray far from Red Robin and Blue Bird for now.
Bruce Wayne	<<Negotiation isn't an option,>> Batman answers firmly over the comm. It never is. Even those villains with noble, if twisted, causes can't be let free. Besides, he'd examined this situation from every angle and could see no way forward, <<Keep an eye on them, Alfred.>> He looks up to Catwoman as she lands, sparing her a look before he plants both arms on the lip of the 'crater' and flips himself forward. He descends down into the hazy freezer below, landing on the packed frost with a sharp crunch. Once the rest of them have descended inside he rises to his full height, an intimidating shadow in the unlit warehouse. "As I said, find the hostages and exfil them. If you see Freeze, you tell me. Do not try to stop him yourself. He typically works alone, so there shouldn't be any hired guns to be aware of - but keep your eyes open anyway." A finger is lifted as he points it squarely at Red Robin, leveling his gaze on him: "And listen to Penny One." The codename for Alfred when they're not using comms. His words all but scream 'you may be working on your own now, but I'll decide when you're ready.' That said, he turns and disappears into the darkness.
Tim Drake	"<<Not with Freeze,>>" Red Robin agrees as he kneels, looking down into the depths. "<<Not with the things that motivate him. He isn't here just to cause chaos, and that makes him a different kind of dangerous.>>" His mouth twists faintly, and he rises back up, nodding once to Raptor's arrival. A quick look is cast upwards as the drones begin their sweep, and then Tim inhales slowly.     He takes the leap, after Batman. His cape spreads out into the shape of a bird's wings, folds marking the flight feathers, to decelerate his fall. Once he lands, Tim takes a second or two to get his bearings, scanning the immediate area before he stands.     The following orders get a few well-placed nods from him at the appropriate parts, and then what is visible of his expression goes blank as Batman points at him. "Of course," is all he says.     Then he waits for Batman to disappear into the dark.     "We keep trying to add him to the text group but I think he's bribed Oracle so that it doesn't go through." He lifts his chin a little bit, eyes narrowed behind his lenses. "Alright, let's go."
Harper Row	Harper silently mouths ''Catwoman'' and ''Pretty cool'' in response to Tim's comment about the unknown woman's voice just before they ride up the rope together. A nod towards Raptor to acknowledge her and then she drops down behind Red Robin, hitting the ground in a roll tucked around her bulpup rifle and coming up in a ready crouch and scanning the area with her eyes, the barrel of the rifle tracking with them. She chuckles slightly at the thought of Batman in the chat and nods. "Let's," she acknowledges and asks, "Any chance of having a layout of the building to work with?"
Selina Kyle	Catwoman lands near Batman a moment after he does, and the reformed(??) burglar is unusually quiet as Batman lays out the plan. It doesn't go above her head that Batman neither gives her orders nor tells her to leave, taking it for granted that she'll go with him, and it draws a bit of a smirk from her. It works out for her, really. Taking orders is something she can only do gracefully for so long.     Despite Batman's commanding tone, Selina offers Tim a bit of a wink before she turns to follow Batman, the equivalent of 'Don't worry about it' to go along with Batman's unspoken meaning.     "*So* strict..." Catwoman teases, her voice a whisper as she moves ahead. She doesn't dig in on the matter, though, she knows this isn't a good time to distract him. She works in tandem with Bruce, checking her corners and keeping low, confirming when the coast is clear with little more than a look, a nod, a slight movement of the hand. Whatever else you can say about Selina Kyle, the woman has a professional attitude about infiltration.
Alfred Pennyworth	There's a brief activation of the comm channel before it cuts out almost immediately, as if Alfred had something to retort and instead opted for professionalism given the gravity of the situation. The drones circled overhead in a pattern so that their sensor sweep could cover all angles of the building as they began their assessment and then he came alive on comms again. <<Do be careful - all of you, in the event we lose comms,>> he offered quickly with an unspoken '-sir-' as he began to pull up the scan's results and set to his assigned task.
M'gann M'orzz	This is when Miss Martian would normally try to use telepathy to locate the hostages. But what happens when telepathy is blocked? That apparently is one of the questions that she needs to learn to answer today. Raptor returns Harpers nod and gives another to Red Robin when he lands. Another scarf is unfurled from her neck and wrapped around her left arm now so that each arm is sporting one, and yet like certain game characters and belts there still seems to be yet more scarves draped about her neck and shoulders, concealing the lower part of her face beneath the domino mask, many more, a scarf for all occasions. With the way open and everyone ready, she makes her way through the opening created by the thermite charges and into the frozen meat packing plant.
Bruce Wayne	<<Alfred, get the live radar feed through to Red Robin and his team. Cross-reference it with thermal imaging and aerial reconnaissance from the satellite. Get them a straight shot towards the hostages, then ->> The comm is suddenly cut by a burst of static, intermingled with a pained grunt from Batman. As he and Catwoman pass beneath an overhead gantry, a burst of cold lances through the air and when the steam clears the Dark Knight has one arm pinned to the wall in a chunk of ice. On the gantry above stands a man in a heavy suit, his head concealed within a large glass dome. When he speaks, his voice is tinny as it hisses from speakers built into the armor itself. "Catwoman," Freeze answers, leveling his weapon at her, "You and the children are not required here. Take them and go. I will not repeat myself."
Tim Drake	Whatever that interplay between Batman and Red Robin meant, well, Red Robin is going about business as usual. Which is generally fairly cautious on his part, and he toggles on comms to reply to Alfred with a, "<<Copy that,>>" just as confirmation. Then he tips his head, a gesture for both Bluebird and Raptor.     Onwards? Onwards.     A quick tap at the control panel in his arm, and he's sent over some of the info Alfred has provided. The blueprint of the plant is chief amongst the files transferred. He's on the move as he does so, eyes up, using the haptic feedback and the display in his HUD to handle it all without sacrificing his situational awareness.     Then Batman cuts back in on comms. Red Robin's pace slows faintly, and indeed comes to a complete stop when Batman grunts, going silent. He looks back over his shoulder.     But then that's it. "<<Now's the time to get the hostages out while Freeze is distracted,>>" he says as he starts to move again, not looking back. Trusting that he's being followed. "<<We're going to need alternate egress once we've located them. We don't want to bring them back this way and right into Freeze's path.>>"
Harper Row	Having the blueprint as a ghost image over her vision via her HUD, Harper starts tapping the side of her rifle with her non-trigger hand after toggling the virtual keyboard feature of her suit to that hand. "<<I'm on the alternate egress search,>>" Bluebird says as she starts tagging entrances. "<<Any clue as to where the hostiages are located currently?>>" she asks.
Selina Kyle	Catwoman flinches when that burst of static hits her comms, but isn't so distracted that she doesn't at least try to move out of the way reflexively when the frigid beam is fired.     Of course, it wasn't aimed at her in the first place. "Bat!" Catwoman cries out with alarm when she sees Batman's state, before turning sharply to look up at Freeze.     Selina subtly moves to put herself between Freeze and Batman - obscuring Bruce from Freeze's sight - and keeps a cautious stance. "Ha... is that a job offer, or an order? Because one of those needs a price attached, and the other one makes me peel your scalp off." She's stalling, of course, in case Batman can free himself somehow, but keeps ready to move. She won't accomplish anything by taking the next blast for Batman, but she'd like to at least delay that shot if she can.
Alfred Pennyworth	Alfred's brow furrows as Batman goes dark. All in another night's work, he supposes, tapping at keys furiously as he routes the scan into Tim's display. It's strictly a thermal view, overlain atop the uploaded blueprints, but given the nature of the groups quarry it's certainly lacking. A brief image of a pair trekking down in the vicinity of where Batman and Catwoman flashes - one limb noticably darker than the rest of the Dark Knight. <<Batman has undoubtedly met Mister Freeze, but i've located your objective, Red Robin. A loading dock, a prep bay, and a freezer over - >> he explains quickly.     A path through the warehouse is lit up, indicating the shortest route between his location and the cluster of heat signatures that (hopefully) indicates the hostages. <<I'll see to working on an exit, if you all can find something that works to get you to the dome, Bluebird - unfortunately, these thermals can't really track Freeze or anything else he's set up...>>
M'gann M'orzz	So this is how you find hostages without telepathy. Raptor's domino mask is a little different than the one she wore in the Riddler's maze in that it actually has a HUD and is now displaying all kinds of information. 'So this is how Tim see's things.' She thinks to herself. She's not used to it yet and at times it becomes kind of distracting for her, but still the totally normal Gotham vigilante soldiers on. <<Heat, of course, heat makes total sense.>> Raptor has a moment of thinking out loud when Harper asks how they're going to find the hostages and the information appears on her HUD while being relayed over the comms from Alfred. Moving with Red Robin and Blue Bird, she heads along the path outlined by Alfred making creative use of those long weighted scarves in a variety of ways to circumvent various obstacles that arise. Everyone in Gotham seems to have a thing and apparently Raptor's is a myriad of weighted extremely durable silk scarves.
Bruce Wayne	"Catwoman," Batman growls, arm still pinned against the wall as he watches her challenge Freeze, "Don't." Up above, Freeze continues to stare at Catwoman with the rifle trained on her. His features are stony and emotionless. A picture of icy resolve. There's a slight twitch of his hand, and the gun begins to whine as another charge is loaded into the barrel. "It is neither. I would gladly freeze you solid and shatter you into so many bloody shards. But it is ... unnecessary." It's then that Freeze pauses, head turning to the side as he seems to be listening to something the pair of them cannot hear. It's only then that his mask of indifference cracks, teeth bared as pure range overrules him. "We had a deal," he growls, the helmet he wears fogging up as he shouts, "I will do my part and - NO! Nygma - Nygma, NO!" Freeze's voice now possesses a tone of furious pleading. His eyes ablaze with rage, he turns the gun on Catwoman once more and fires!
Tim Drake	"<<I'd figured as much,>>" Tim replies to Alfred, acknowledging and then immediately dismissing the drone feed that shows Batman and Catwoman's location. It's there if he needs it, but right now he has marching orders.     They move, Bluebird laying down electronic tags to indicate potential exits, Red Robin leading the way along the trail Alfred has laid down for him, and trusting both Bluebird and Raptor to keep up. At the very least, Raptor's ability with those scarves makes it easy for her to do so.     He makes a note to ask about it, later. Maybe it has something to do with Martian shapeshifting... stretching out one's limbs, and such. It's a theory.     And one not particularly important for him to be considering, right now. Focus. He leaps over a forklift, frozen into place with a stack of boxes labelled hamburger patties on it. "<<We're on our way.>>"
Harper Row	The much less acrobatic Bluebird clambers up onto an immobile conveyor belt. Perched there she scans the area and covers her companions movement for a few heart beats before dropping down on the other side. She takes a quick side step to check a door marked exit and, finding it frozen she fires an electrobullet into the ice so that the discharge starts a melting process and then fast walks to catch up to Red Robin and Raptor. "<<Based on the layout of the place that's a likely exit for us and the hostages,>>" she informs the group via the comms.
Selina Kyle	Selina's whole focus is on Freeze, so she doesn't respond to Batman other than to tense up slightly when he protests. If Selina's ears could perk up, they would when Freeze actually allows himself to be distracted, something so unexpected that Selina wasn't even fully prepared to take advantage of it. Her hesitation doesn't last long, and she's already dashing forward by the time Freeze fires at her.     Selina dives forward and downward - the blast going just above her head. Her hands touch the ground first, and her boots hit the ground just behind them, before she uses that coiled up energy and momentum to spring forward, pouncing like a tiger into the air.     Selina's whip lashes out and coils around the railing of the gantry in front of freeze; but rather than pull herself straight up, Catwoman swings underneath the gantry, grabbing the edge of the platform on the other side. With incredibly agility she clambers up onto the railing behind Freeze - uncoiling her whips, and perching on it with all four limbs, before she again pounces towards Freeze with a sharp roar. Claws extend on both hands, with one trying to push or knock the freeze-gun away, and the other lashing out at Freeze's dome with the same kind of ferocity that carved three lines into Batman's chest that persist to this day.
Alfred Pennyworth	If nothing else, Freeze was thorough in his security. The loading bay is suitably frozen, but an emergency exit serves just as well. As the rescue team proceeds along their set course, Alfred furrows his brow while feverishly trying to reconfigure the drones to provide more than a simple thermal scan.     <<I'm bringing up a scan of the bay just outside the freezer, and I think i'm picking up a heat signature on a possible exit... i'm going to bring the Batwing ->> he begins, only to cut off suddenly. <<It looks like the water mains have been damaged - i'm not sure what you're going to find,>> he continues with some trepidation.     The scene before the freezer is a nightmarish hellscape somewhere out of the Ninth Circle of Hell. The floor has been shattered in multiple places, allowing cruely sharped pillars of ice to shoot up like frozen cacti and making it a daunting task for those less acrobatically inclined to navigate. Just beyond, the freezer door has been turned to resemble a lobster trap, where the myriad of hostages lay in various states of abject panic or unconciousness with limbs and torsos frozen this way and that in the shape of the family's bay symbol.
M'gann M'orzz	Good, they have an exit strategy, now they just need to get the hostages and get out. Raptor is physically fighting down the urge to go back and help Batman. It's her first inclination, her natural instinct. But this too is a lesson in its own way, to trust him, to trust her team. Perhaps she should have trusted Tim a bit more back in that underground cavern not to be dead when he got Boom Tubed. So many thoughts racing through her mind, but not too many that she lags behind. <<We're almost there.>> She calls through the comms even as she slings out a scarf wrapping one end around the handle of a thick metal door, while looping it around a support beam and jamming the other into a convenient conveyer belt, using the machine to do what she might normally accomplish with brute stength to tear open the door revealing that nightmarish hellscape.
Bruce Wayne	Freeze's dome duly cracks under Selina's assault. A spiderweb-thin lattice spreading outward from where her nails and fist struck it. He lumbers backwards, the bulky suit saving him from any sort of pain though he does let out a grunt. The rifle is brought about at the same time, firing blast after blast in Catwoman's general direction in an effort to ward her away. His other hand fumbles at her, striking out with augmented strength. Down by the wall, Batman takes a moment to gauge his situation. A second later he produces a small, circular device from his belt. He places it on the ice and turns his face away, gritting his teeth as it beeps and then explodes with a harsh bang. The ice shatters, taking much of his sleeve with it and leaving behind scarred flesh marked with a fresh burn and shrapnel wounds caused by flying ice. A batarang is flung in Freeze's direction, and a moment later a hissing sound fills the air. One of the pipes on the back of his suit has been torn free, and the freeze rifle immediately powers down. Inside the suit, Freeze gasps frantically. His attacks now becoming desperate clawing at Catwoman, like a man drowning on dry land.
Tim Drake	With his breath fogging up the air in front of him, Red Robin slows to a halt, the spikes on his boots crunching into the ice.     "How Gotham," he says, almost as if to himself. "Winter wonderland refracted through a nightmare."     His chin dips and turns slightly, this way and that, as he considers the potential routes in front of them. "<<This doesn't...>>" But Red Robin stops himself, when he sees the hostages. He's picking up vital signs through his HUD, which is promising, but he knows they're all working on a time limit, here.     Red Robin holds up his hand to signal both Raptor and Bluebird to halt. "<<This looks like a trap,>>" he says, because... well, it just does, and also because this feels too easy. Freeze wanted them to come in, after all. He was waiting.     The only question is: to what purpose? "<<How long before you could get a drone down in here with us?>>"
Harper Row	"<<Good trap setup,>>" Bluebird says before asking, "<<But we really aren't going to just leave them in there are we? No gizmo for melting the ice away from them?>>" While asking she glances around incase this is an ambush point, ready for goons to pop out of hiding or the like.
Selina Kyle	Selina's not a master of predicting movements, but she's fast as hell, experienced, and has a strong core of martial training behind her seemingly wild and chaotic movements that keep her from taking a direct hit from any of those wild shots; although just being close to them makes her feel a debhilitating chill - that paradoxical burning sensation from being exposed to too much cold too quickly.     Still, she attacks savagely, clawing and swiping at that helmet - the only part she feels she could hope to damage with what she has to hand - using the occasional kick to try to create distance... but Freeze isn't suffering any of the affects or physical duress that Selina is, and by the time he lashes out at her, Selina's slowed down enough that his fist catches her square in the abdomen.     Her whole body briefly seems to curve around Freeze's fist before she's propelled back-first into the railing. She nearly falls backwards off of it, but manages to catch the railing with her hands and pull herself back, only to sink to one knee, clutching at her stomach and coughing raggedly. Her vision blurred, she looks up at Freeze, and begins to try to stagger back to her feet... when suddenly Freeze's suit is sabotaged.     Catwoman only hesitates for a split second with surprise before she throws herself against Freeze, trying to force him off of the gantry and to the ground below.
Alfred Pennyworth	<<The GCPD are ready help with the hostages - i'm opening a hole in the dome for them now outside of Bluebird's exit... i'm afraid it's down to your best judgement as to the 'trap's' specifics, Red Robin. I'll try and get a drone inside for you,>> Alfred replies in a grim fashion. There's a shriek from overhead and a small thumb as the Batwing pops up on the team's HUDs and a brief flash of blips indicate Gordon's men getting into position.     Be it bad luck, Freeze's machinations, or someone else entirely, the team's fears are confirmed all too soon as some of the cacti begin to erupt exploding from within and firing their spiky payloads across the loading bay as slushy water begins to flood into the bay. Bad luck seems to be ruled out as only the closest of pillars seem to be erupting as if on cue, the remainder beginning to tremble slightly as if nearing a similar fate.
M'gann M'orzz	Raptor's jaw clenches at the nightmarish sight beyond the door, there is a part of her brain that is screaming at her to charge in there and smash it all, to rescue those poor people and end their suffering. But, it's not that simple, not with this largely human body. Is this what Tim deals with every day? <<It's definitely a trap. What a monster. Using innocent victims as lures like they're just arts and crafts supplies.>> Internally part of her is wondering how a human could do this to another human, but really she already knows the answer from her own people's troubled and bloody history. She doesn't move into the chamber just yet, but Raptor is already scoping out angles she might be able to use to swing across the space and ways the victims might be extricated.
Bruce Wayne	Freeze lets out a cry of surprise as Selina barrels into him, toppling back against the rail before it gives way, and he falls to the ground. The helmet he wears is shattered, his features taking on a vicious red alert lights illuminate his face. He's still gasping for air as Batman rushes to his side, swiftly reattaching the pipes to keep the man from suffocating. He's so focused on keeping Freeze alive that he doesn't see the glint of metal in dying man's hand. A crackle of electricity rippling silently across its surface and - "GAH!" The Dark Knight lets out a shout, springing up and back from the man on the floor. He stares at him wide-eyed for a moment. Disbelief crossing Batman's features for perhaps the first time in as long as Selina has known him. His eyes shift down now, and there - buried in the bat-symbol at the center of his chest - is a wicked looking dagger of gold. Blood pools out from beneath it, frothing pinkish red. Batman coughs, a haze of blood filling the air before him as he does so. His eye's meet Catwoman's for a second, though all he can manage is a single, confused word. "Selina?" Then he collapses, still, next to the unconscious Freeze.
Tim Drake	And there it is. Tim is not all-knowing by any means but he knows a trap when he sees one; after all, he lays plenty of them himself. He moves as the first pillar begins to erupt, aiming himself at Bluebird, the nearest of his allies, as he brings his cape up to block (hopefully at least some of) the ice shards. The worst of the impact of his body mass is reduced by the way he twists as he tackles her, bringing Harper down to the floor behind the cover of a stack of meat-filled crates.     He's back up in an instant, though, crouching as he peeks around the boxes. Scanning. Six pillars. Conveyer belts... ah. The chutes, for meat to go in and out. Right.     Tim pulls back around and rolls his neck. This is probably going to hurt.     "<<I'm going to take those other pillars out, I don't think they're in range to hurt the hostages. As soon as it clears, get in there and get the civilians to safety,>>" he says over comms to make sure it can be heard clearly over the sound of rushing water, for Raptor's sake.     As he stands, he pulls several concussive batarangs from his belt. Red Robin takes a quick breath, and launches himself out from cover. He makes a mad dash across the room, a quick flick of his wrist to embed each batarang in the ice of the spiky cactus pillars as he passes.     Quick jumps over conveyer belts, down into a roll below the forks of a lift frozen in place half-raised, he focuses on hitting his targets as he runs, then drops down into a slide that aims him right into one of the exit chutes as the explosions begin.
Alfred Pennyworth	The batarangs certainly do their job - the pillars of ice shattering with a slightly more energetic spray of slush ridden water vane water shooting into the sky as Tim darts through the prep area. Only a few seem to detonate before the concussive blasts, as if something were triggering their explosion as icicles spray out across the bay. The rest of the team is mostly covered from the impact near the door, but a few come dangerously close to impacting about Tim and may even graze his limbs as he makes the dash for the exit chute. Luckily it's an exit chute, and it's more just a tight fit (made easier by ice) rather than anything too dangerous.
Harper Row	After the hostages have been defrosted by the flooded water enough to move, Harper starts ushing them out and, after the behavior seems to be self-reinforcing in the resuced people, she begins to shepherd them along the path she'd previously plotted. Unsure if she can count on her companions to watch the flanks and end of the line she tries to keep an eye on the whole group even as she sloshes though the ankle deep water fast enough to catch up with the freed victim who just happens to be in the front of the group. Speaking first -- "<<We're getting you out of here. It'll be okay, rescue services are already on the way,>>" (that last is accompanied by a thought "Please have them actually be on the way," to herself.) -- she puts a hand on the woman's shoulder in order to physically guide her toward the exit. Once at the exit she presses the bar that opens the door and, due to the nature of the portal, sets off a klaxon. "<<Go! Just go!>>" she commands the formerly captive citizens of Gotham as she waves them forward. Once the last of the fridged and wet ex-hostages exit the building she follows them, keeping them protected until the officers of the GCPD can take over at which point she disengages and fades into a shadowy alley. Before she departs the area fully, Harper announces, "<<Hostages out. I'm out. Emergency services had responded also so they're getting care.>>" What she doesn't say is her concerns for Tim who she knows may be injured and the status of Batman as well what with the communications blackout. But she knows her limits and trusts that her mentors would agree that with her being out of the building she should remain out. That thought... she proceeds to head home to the Narrows.
Selina Kyle	Selina catches a bent portion of the destroyed railing as she falls, and finds herself dangling above the ground for several seconds before she drops to the floor with a grunt of discomfort.     "Hnnng... guuuh." She grunts and pants muffledly, holding her stomach and squeezing her eyes shut for a long moment, before she raises her head to watch Batman work, feeling a distinct lack of sympathy for Victor at that moment in time.     She sees what Freeze is doing, but she's too far away. She's already bounding forward, crying "NO!" in a strangled hoarse voice, but by the time she grabs Freeze's wrist, and drives a punch straight down at his head, it's already too late.     She holds Bruce's gaze with wide eyes for what a moment that feels like ages spent waiting for the big revealk that no harm has been done... but instead Bruce collapses, and Selina darts towards him, getting an arm under him an instant before he hits the ground - probably doing more to hurt herself than anything - and kneels beside him.     "Bat? *Bat!?*" She stammers, feeling panic well up inside of her. Her eyes dart around briefly, her hand grabs the hilt of the knife buried in Bruce's chest - though luckily she thinks better of it and doesn't pull it out - sputtering "What- no- wait!" as the color drains from her face.     Selina Kyle hasn't had allies in her entire life. She's had... co-workers, essentially; people she was forced to rely on, but could never ever trust, and certainly could never call on for help. So it takes a few critical seconds for her to realize one of the options available to her, fighting through the frantic panic in her mind as she puts a bloody hand to her ear. "Robin?! Kid?! A-*Anybody!* Bat's down, there's- there's a huge... *knife* in his chest, and I don't-" Catwoman looks about frantically for a moment, and continues in a smaller voice, "... I can't do anything." Selina's heart sinks as she begins to feel helpless for the first time in... well, a long time. She could barely even move him, if she had too. He's too heavy.     Catwoman shakes her head hard, and refocuses on Batman's face, which she promptly grabs by the chin and turns towards her. "Hey." She taps his cheek once, twice "You're still with me, right? Bat?" She slaps him once and barks "*Bat!* If you pass out on me, I'll... you..." Selina growls, "You'll never hear the end of it!"
M'gann M'orzz	Raptor looks like she was about to do something, but then Red Robin is shattering the ice pillars and Harper is already in motion taking care of all of the hostages. She takes a few moments to recalibrate her thinking to the new situation before springing into action. Not wanting any part of being in that ice cold slush, she slings one of her weighted scarves up around one of the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling and swinging over towards the chute where Tim disappeared. She's not about to leave him behind, not again. Perching in the mouth of the meat chute the weighted scarf from her other arm slings out towards her fellow Outsider, who even if he didn't already know might notice the uncanny resemblance to the way M'gann sometimes uses her own arms in the way the scarves are being manipulated. "Come on, we're getting out of here!" She calls down the chute without using her comm. It is only then that Selina's hysterical communication pierces across the comms and her face visibly pales in a way that is only possible when one is mostly human. "We need to go, now!" <<Hostages are secured! We're coming!>>
Alfred Pennyworth	The Batwing is well on it's way back up into open airspace as Alfred begins to flip through his various feeds and visuals on the Bat Fam. Alone in the cave, Alfred grows pale as he stares up from Batman's cowl and the aircraft is wheeled back around. <<You need to get to Batman. He's been injured - the GCPD are on their way in to help with Freeze, but you need to get him to the Batwing for a medevac>> he commands - it's almost a yell, reined in only by strict discipline.     <<West out of the prep bay, and in the main processing plant. Catwoman is still with him - >> he continues, unaware of Raptor's initiative, a flurry of keystrokes uploading an overview of the scene -just- as the drone Tim requested greets him in the loading bay, seemingly forgotten at the sudden crisis. <<The cold will play to our favor, but you can't waste time.>>
Bruce Wayne	For all the pain he feels, for all the difficulty he's having remaining conscious, Bruce is a man of considerable resolve. He doesn't drift off, instead locking eyes on Selina. He struggles for breath, the blood pooling from the wound in his chest clearly aerated and foaming. "Selina," he gasps, voice thick and lips coated in blood, "Focus. Don't ... hnnnh ... panic. Get ... to Alfred. Use ... " The words don't come easily. Instead, he grabs her hand, a remarkable amount of strength still in him. He places in her hand a rubbery seal and tape taken from his utility belt. "Seal ... "
Selina Kyle	Selina's eyes are still very wide when she looks at the seal placed in her hand, but she begins to work quickly to apply it. "... Never thought I'd be annoyed you haven't run me through the inventory on these things..." she grumbles, which, in its way, is a good sign for her composure returning.
Tim Drake	Silence, down the chute. It's pitch-black, the sides streaked with old blood and skimmed with ice from the ambient temperature having dropped so low.     But then the length of scarf pulls taught, and between one end being pulled and the other end being held onto in a death grip, Red Robin is hauled out of the chute.     A bit bruised and bloodied, but altogether not that bad. Superficial cuts at best except for a decent chunk taken out of his shin. Tis but a flesh wound, at least.     The drone gets a wane look, from behind the lenses in his domino mask.     "Thanks for the save," he mutters as he climbs to his feet. There's no time for pleasantries beyond that, as they're both on the move, boots pounding against the icy floor as they retrace their steps through the plant at top speed. "<<Get the Batwing right over the hole in the roof, we'll haul him straight up through.>>"     And for all the calm he's projecting outwardly, there's no mistaking the fact that Red Robin is at an all-out sprint. He's no speedster, and he's out of breath when he arrives in a half-slip stumble up onto the platform where Batman is laid out, but he covers the distance in half the time most anyone else without powers would've made it. A glance of inspection is given to the work Catwoman has done to seal the wound and prevent further bleeding, and he nods.     With a gesture, Red Robin brings Raptor in close, and then a quick countdown precedes a group effort of lifting the Dark Knight up. Even without the armor it'd be no easy task to move Bruce, but now it's a Herculean task.     Or maybe it just feels that way, hearts pounding in ears, breath stuttering with effort.     Once they've all been lifted up into the Batwing, Red Robin takes over first aid, his mouth set into a grim line of determination and forehead furrowed.     Just a few more minutes. Just a few more. They're going to make it back to Alfred and he'll fix this.