Summary:Nightwing tracks Ryoshi to have an … unsatisfactory … chat. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Ranna has had better days. Better months, even. Since coming to New York, things have not gone well for her. Then again, she might say that since her sixteenth birthday things haven't been great - becoming a 'Loyal Daughter of The Order' wasn't everything it had been made out to be.
At least Shiranui hadn't gone active in the last couple of the days, which has meant she's had some time to heal. Her ribs are recovering after Nightwings attack on her and the cold burns from dropping in on Captain Cold are disappearing.
It just hasn't put her in a very good mood.
Today, at least, she's put her armour on - lightweight, cogmium based, body armour that she can wear under her clothes. It will give her some protection at least.
The woman has found a rooftop somewhere and is going through forms, practicing. It should be peaceful up here. No one will bother her, right?
"You know, for a super hardcore Psy-Ja, trademark, you seem to take a lot of beatings. Have you considered a living in a less combative field, like say… massage therapy or acupuncture. I imagine with your abilities it would be a lucrative career!" says a voice behind Ranna as she makes all the slow flowy hand gestures in the air. Nightwing is sitting on the edge of the roof, elbow propped on his knee, chin in his hand, watching. "I'm just saying, move to the burbs, get an SUV with all the trimmings, or one of those electric sedans, start wearing more khaki's and comfy shoes. Just a thought!"
Ranna, or as Nightwing knows her Ryoshi, turns at the voice. She tries not to startle, though it's a little difficult.
"Who said I was a hardcore Psy-Ja… whatever that is." The woman answers. At least she'd pulled the bandana up before doing this, the only thing really visible is her hair and her eyes. Dark brown hair, so dark it's nearly black.
"I'd ask how you found me but let me guess, tracking device. I thought I'd been thorough enough. Not even washing has affected them. Good tech."
This is a far cry from the obsessed woman he's 'met' before.
Dick Grayson using a finger to point into the air as if differentiating between words, "Psyhic. Ninja. Psy-Ja. I've been calling the other guy a Nin-Borg. I was gonna go Cy-Ja, C-Y version, but then you were all telekinetic with the Xena frisbees and somehow it all fell into place to perfectly for me to ignore. Nin-Borg," he points left, "Psy-Ja," he points right, "Nightwing." he points at himself, "It's really not that complicated once I explain it, but I also feel like it loses a touch of it's magic somehow." he still hasn't gotten his chin out of the palm of his hand, just keeps talking and looking like a bored 6th grader.
"Tagged you with a radioactive isotope, washing has no effect on it. Your body will shed it in like two weeks, until then you light up my gear like a human sized flare." he pauses, "Also, you might turn into Psy-Ja Hulk if there's a lunar eclipse on the full moon." he doesn't even crack a smile. At first. But then it's there, tugging at the corners of his mouth and showing he's kidding. Right? "I'm also pretty good at my job. Should be, been doing it /forever/." his head moves as if he were rolling his eyes hard enough it required vertebrate to absorb the force. "So what's your story and why are you running around attacking innocent cops in my city?"
Ryoshi moves back, putting space between them. Her Chakrams aren't visible - does she even have them? "You're the one the Bats call Nightwing, yes?" Clearly she's been doing her research. How much do she know of the former boy wonder? "You're adequate at your job. You've not caught Shiranui or myself." Does she ever smile? Possibly not.
"A Psy-Ja Hulk doesn't sound so bad…" oh, she got the joke but it's not funny. Or so it seems.
"They were in my way." The police she means. "If they had stayed clear of Shiranui and let me have him. they wouldn't have been hurt."
Dick Grayson shrugs, "You assume I've been trying to catch you." he points out, "Mostly I've been trying to get you two to stop wreaking havoc in my town and generally being community douchecanoes." he points, "See? That right there? Douchecanoe behavior. Simply because someone is 'in your way' is not reason enough to resort to nigh-lethal force. If it were, I wouldn't have sat here calmly for minutes watching you do basic kata's instead of crippling you for life, or worse. That, is because I am a civilized person with exceptional manners, where are you are clearly a rude person and borderline barbaric." Hey, if someone wants to get all 'ninjay' on him, he's gonna get preachy on them in return. Seems only fair.
"Of course, /I've/ actually had conversations with your other half already, and I've found you both a few times. Makes it seems like /I'm/ better at my job then /you/ are at yours. I mean. If you wanna start getting judgey about it." he gives her a steady pointed look, "So the obvious question is, what's your side of the story? His seems somewhat-" he handwaffles, "meh."
"You tagged me and traced me here." Ryoshi points out. "And you've tried to hold me the last few times we've met. And failed." Had he though? He'd slammed her into the ground hard enough to bruise her ribs and then turned his back on her. Sure, he'd supposedly been trying to catch Shiranui - but… she's not a fool.
She is trolling him a bit though.
"Who said that wasn't non-lethal force?" The dark haired woman raises an eyebrow. "I went through a couple to try to reach Shiranui, they'll survive that - I'm not all that big, after all. And a few stepped in front of my blades." Sort of. Maybe. It's a polite fiction.
"You can't talk to Shiranui. It's impossible. The man is like a walking fortune cookie." She grumbles. "I've been sent to retrieve him. He is rogue." She'd kill to know what story he tells.
Dick Grayson holds up a finger, "You're not that good a manipulator, baiting isn't gonna work." second finger, "I said /nigh/ lethal force." he flips a hand back and forth, "An important distinction, and I have taken notice. Which is why I am being so polite right now." he beams, "See? Havn't hit you even once yet." he motions back and forth between them, "Conversating is good. Conversating is not hitting. No one likes to get their teeth knocked out, health care in this country is /ridiculous/." his chin plops back down in his hand, "Actually I found him quiet illuminating once we had a chat. He was very forth coming, which is why I thought I'd give you the same opportunity."
"I shall endeavour to remember you don't want your teeth knocked out." Ryoshi responds, "You talk a lot, you know that? Are all the Bats as chatty as you?" beat "So you know I don't mean your people any harm. You can let me have Shiranui and we'll be gone."
It's simple. It's also slightly obsessive. Not as obsessive as she is in a fight with him. Then, she just ignores everything else, doesn't she? She doesn't even really speak in full sentences.
Speaking of Shiranui, that gets a snort. "I doubt he told you he's a traitor. Let me guess, some sob story about how he's pursued and all he wants is to live his life peacefully? He should have thought of that, the first time I found him."
Dick Grayson nods his head, "I get that a lot, and a few of us, yes. I mean, if you'd rather have a different kind of conversation I could always call the Other Guy over and you could see if you'd like to talk with him." He doesn't have to mention how that would go. EVERYONE knows how that sort of conversation would go. It's easy to be the Good Cop when you're back up is the fucking Batman. "Actually, that's not at all what he said." he says simply, "But he did make a few interesting points, points he backed up with a bit of evidence on his part. I don't suppose you have evidence do you? Some sort of proof he's done something unspeakable to someone? Cause that would make your case infinitely stronger."
Ranna sighs. "Proof. He is a traitor to The Order and they will rectify this. I am their Hunter. It is my duty to bring him in. That is all the proof I have or need."
This isn't going well, Ryoshi knows that. It never does. Not that she gets these types of conversations often. Normally it's done over her chakrams.
"What evidence could he possibly have, anyway?" Of course she doesn't have any. Just that damn tech in her head that triggers when one of The Project uses their abilities. Has Nightwing worked that out yet? Or is he still testing her for what she really is.
"Send the Other Guy if you must. I'm not here to fight you. Just to return those that are lost to our keeping." beat "Maybe you should tell me what claims he made, then I can address them more directly."
She seems adamant she's not here to fight them, at least?
Dick Grayson sighs and looks disappointed by this turn of events, "The kind he's incapable of fabricating in short order." he says simply, giving away just about bubkiss. "You really don't want to talk to the other guy. Seriously. /No one/ wants to talk to the other guy." he makes a slight face and shakes his head sadly, "So you do anything the Order tells you to? Like a slave or something?" he asks curiously. "Seems lonely and unrewarding."
"So he said nothing, then and you're just testing me." Ryoshi shakes her heads and takes another step back. Her eyes scan the area - Nightwing knows what this is, she's assessing her next move. She might be willing to run. "When you have something, Bat, you come talk to me. Until then, I'm going to hunt him and bring him in."
It might be she's ready to turn and leave at that but Nightwing speaks again. "It is my life. I am a Hunter. Daughter of The Order, initiated on my sixteenth birthday." She's being literal too, he can see that.
"The Order has ordained members of The Project are to be stopped at all costs and that is my purpose. To find them and bring them in or stop them permanently." Slave? That almost gets a response from her. It's all fairly banale commentary so far.
"From what I hear, all the young Bats do what the Big Bat tells me. So are we really that different?"
Dick Grayson nods his head, "We are." he says as he takes a long breath, "See, I walked away from the Bat, got my distance a few years back. I'm my own man now, make my own calls. Occasionally he'll /ask/ for my help, and I will give it. The reverse is also true, but we're both independant people, like room to breath. I've turned him down before to. Told him no." he points a finger at her, "I have plenty and not only from him."
"I'm /offering/ you the opportunity to give me your side of the story before this escilates further, because if it does and I only have him and his evidence to weigh against you and your blind devotion to a questionable 'secret' society, I gotta say I don't like your chances. So far you're 0-2 in run ins with him when I'm just running interference to make sure no one dies. What do you imagine your chances are if I actively /pick/ a side?" Nightwing pushes himself to his feet in a lazy sort of weary way, "When you're ready to explain things, please, make a call. This all seems like a lot of effort that could be expended in the pursuit of something actually constructive instead of blind collared obediance." he steps up onto the edge of the roof, and where he was sitting is a little burner flip phone. "Also, that whole chips and dip invitation is still open. My queso isn't /quite/ good as my guac, but I'm getting pretty good at it."
"Are we? You've been programmed by him too. Distance or not." Ryoshi points out. "Most of your beliefs, the way you interact on the street are formed by that. You stop the criminals, put them in prison but they're back on the streets in no time - hurting people and holding a grudge against you. All because it's not his way."
It might have become the younger bats way, but is that a free choice they made or … blind devotion?
"Don't pick sides. You won't get hurt. I've not attacked you in our … run ins. If you get in my way, I will. I have a job to do and I'll do it, no matter what I'm up against."
She can't not. The 'blind devotion' gets the faintest of flinches.
"I told you, I don't like guacamole or chips." She's so serious and her chin tilts defiantly at the 'collared obedience' "As you see, I'm wearing no collar." But collars come in different forms don't they?
Her eyes never leave Nightwing as he stands and moves. The burner phone left on the edge of the building for now.
Will she take it? He'll find out. Eventually.
Dick Grayson eyes her quietly for a long time, saying nothing, still and thoughtful, "I asked myself that for a long time." he says finally, "I found my answers, but they were hard lessons to learn. I believe in the core of his code, even in the times when he does not. The job isn't to stop criminals, it's to save the innocent. You see the men and women I put in jail, who escape again, and that's fine. Most people do. But /I/ see the people I save. Sometimes they're one in the same, sometimes I get to save a criminal." he grins, "That's a really good day."
His grin remains as he looks at her, "You should give your life a good questioning too sometime, sit down, drag all that stuff you hide in your mind out into the light and really examine it. It'll be hard, painful even, but it's worth it if you can stand on a roof with some other yahoo in spandex and honestly find fulfilment in your work." she comments about collars and his smile fades, so he reaches up to tap the side of his head in example, "Aren't you though?" he asks softly. She's not the first brainwashed zealot he's faced. The Hand? Jarvis Tetch? He can see the symptoms, though she has more autonomy then most. "Seriously, call." he nods at the phone again, "It'd be really great if I could add you two to my list of good days." and then he just steps off the edge and into thin air, plummeting out of sight.
"You save more innocent by stopping the bad guys permanently." Ryoshi answers. "Unless you get off on being their saviour time and and time again." The grin should be infectious. It isn't. It's like the dark skinned woman doesn't know how to smile. She probably doesn't.
"You think I haven't, Bat. Sat down and examined my life. You'd be surprised …" She's said too much and she knows it. Zealot? Maybe. Obsessed? Definitely.
As he drop from her sight, her voice follows "Don't get in my way. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Shiranui is my target, leave it at that."
If Nightwing checks though, the phone is gone.