Summary:Batman tracks down Spider-Man to share more information on the Crows and Spidey's antidote. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme Song |
  |
It had been something of a long night. Meeting up with another Spider-Person (he wondered if he'd set something in motion somehow), fighting off a guy made COMPLETELY of water, and the usual run of muggers, bushwhackers, etc. Bed was starting to look pretty good.
He stopped on the roof of the Rockefeller Building and gazed out at the city. He smiled to himself. As nights go, a sight like this is something to savor.
The shadows move near one of the gargoyle reliefs on the Center. "You eaten yet?" comes a gravelly voice as Batman emerges nearby, glancing over to the Spider-Man. "I ran some tests on your antidote. The results were mixed." he starts off, as he looks out over the city. From beneath his cape, he pulls out a small box - a lunch box, in fact, and tosses it towards him.
Inside is a sandwich made with prime rib, carrot sticks, and avocado dip. He had Alfred pack an extra meal. "Catwoman and I struck at the two schools where the kids the kids were being kidnapped. We have their source. And the ways to summon the Nightfall."
Spidey BLINKS as one of the gargoyles comes alive and…tosses him dinner?
He catches the container, then looks to Batman as he updates him on the kids. "That's good. I was worried about Nightfall coming after Brian and Ricardo again…wait…there's someone named Catwoman? Working with you?"
*Don't say it don't say it he could probably kick your butt DON'T SAY ANYTHING TO ANTAGONIZE…*
"Well, it's nice to know you're dating."
*STUPID MOUTH!!*
"So says the one that had no less that three female versions of himself show up out of the woodwork in the last month?" comes the response. However, Batman lets it go at that. "The tattoos. They're tracking devices." he explains. "Your fears are justified. However, the antidote you came up with only disrupts the tattoo for a few hours - muddles the signal." comes the explanation.
Turning his attention back to the city, he looks out over it again. "In 1974, someone with one of tattoos tried to have it removed in a parlor in San Pablo, Brazil. The experience drove him mad and he killed everyone in the parlor before taking his own life."
Spidey ouches at the verbal volley served back to him with interest, but the discussion turns serious when the tattoos were mentioned. "Yeah…and the guy I ran into with…someone else…called himself Giovanni? I ran a DNA match on his blood. It matched a kid kidnapped 20 years ago. So, surprise, surprise, we're ALL dealing with victims." He sighs and opens the container to distract himself from his thoughts and sniffed. "Wow…this is pretty good." He closed the container again. Dinner AFTER the business meeting.
"They stopped being victims when they started kidnapping children themselves to replace the ranks, and became willing to take lives to do it." Batman responds earnestly as he narrows his lenses slightly. "The tattoos themselves are lined with the same gossamer that they use in their weapons and.." he reaches into a pouch and takes out a small glass disk on a leather rope and tosses it to Spider-Man. "…to summon them to a location."
"Catwoman captured one of the lieutenants that has been providing the children. We have their meeting location and who the leader is. The gang is known as the Denim Crows - part of the El Golfo." He knows Spidey's heard that name before. "I plan to take down the gang. Hard."
Was that an invitation?
Spidey catches the disc the same way he caught the container, in an almost off-handed way. He looked at it for a long time.
"Giovanni's predatory god Plotka made the same offer to me. My heart's desire to follow him. He promised me my old life left. But I knew that that life is as dead as Judas Iscariot…and was about as easy to clean up afterward."
He looked to Batman. "No one gets killed. Everyone gets caught. And Plotka can shove his false promises where the moon don't shine. If that's how you want to play it, you've got my support. I'll comm the others the information now." He walks over to hand the disc back to Batman.
Taking the disc back, and there's a glance at Spider-Man as he mentions not taking any deaths. If Peter has done any research on the man, besides the events of the Blitz, he has /zero/ deaths attributed to him, despite his harsh tactics. "The heart's desire is a strong pull. But it didn't make you who you are today, Spider-Man." he offers to the much younger man as he places the disc back in the pouch. "I'll let those that are supporting me know about your team's support."
At least he didn't call them a harem?
"I'm having an associate experienced in the realm of magic look into your antidote. It's the ink working in concert with the gossamer and the victim's blood that causes the reaction. I'll see if they can find a way to boost your formula to eradicate the tattoo, and produce something more permanent."
He's going to find something nicer than prime rib to apologize to Zatanna after Selina liver kicked her. "The tattoo bearers have different levels. The more powerful the animal in their tattoo, the higher they are in the heirarchy. We're going to use the lieutenant that we took down to summon the leader of the Crows and their handlers. The Crows are well trained. Military tactics, Russian military arts. Make sure your people know this."
Spider-Man nods. "Yeah, I saw that in the last donnybrook I had with them. I went ahead and mixed up some web-fluid with the counter-agent. It is more effective against the constructs, and covering the tattoos with anything fairly thick removes their ability to summon them, so I web one of those guys with this…they'll STAY down. And the constructs aren't alive, really."
"I have those I'm working with incorporating cold iron into their weapons." Batman responds. "I'll give you an advanced warning before I make my move on the Crows." There's a pause for a moment. "Go home and get some rest. You earned it. The night's my time." As he prepares to leave, he glances askance of Spider-Man. He can tell by the voice and shape of his frame that he's young. "Your formula was pretty brilliant for something cooked up in a school lab. Keep it up." With that, he's slipping back into the shadow of the gargoyle and then he takes off into the night.
Spider-Man watched him go, a monolithic shadow disappearing among shadows. Geez, that guy is something else.
He is, however, unable to hide a smirk. "School lab? School WISHES they had MY lab."
He is still grinning when he puts the container in his backpack and swings off for home.