Monkeying Around

December 17, 2014:

Guys in green stick together or what happens at the zoo, stays at the zoo.

Queens Park Zoo

The Asian Monkey Exhibit.

Characters

NPCs: None.

Mentions:

Mood Music: ''The Monkees'' by the Monkees


Fade In…

New phone. Old one, sadly, did not survive a recent unexpected trip through… Gar Logan would rather not explain why he was in the place he was in, but it's kind of embarrassing. He's currently being a Japanese Snow Monkey, of the greener subspecies, and is relaxing in the nice hot tub in the enclosure at the Queens Park Zoo. It's very comfortable. The other six monkeys agree.

His new phone, though… He needs to get out. He hasn't got any clothes here. Wherever his clothes go, his phone went. This one, he stole, er, borrowed, from one of the guys who got him into the situation in the first place. So, remembering Roy Harper's phone number, because none of the other Titans should be allowed to know about this debacle, not yet.

Except. Roy changed his phone number. And Gar's going by memory. And intuition. Sometimes, the latter works better.


Roy Harper used to work closely with Oliver Queen. Ollie was his mentor, he trainer, and something of a father figure, though Ollie would prefer to think of himself as an older brother, a slightly older brother, you know, just 14 years old. Yeah, that can be 'slight' too, if you think about it.

But anyway, Oliver helped set up Roy, or Arsenal as he likes to be called, and he gave him a phone. So it's not too surprising that Oliver's number isn't too far off. But timing is everything.

Garfield may be relaxing in a hot tub, but Ollie, he's busy. When the phone answers, the first thing Garfield can hear is the grunting of woman who just had her ribs broken. There's a fight going on, the clatter of a gun hitting the floor, and finally, the Green Arrow's voice. "Who is this?" He didn't recognise the number, but he took it anyway.


While Gar is enjoying the massage, and the sweet sensation of being groomed by one of the other monkeys, but he is a bit concerned when he hears a not-Roy voice on the other end.

"Arsenal? This is Gar, you know, Changeling? Are you using a voice changer?" Yes, yes, kid watching, the monkey is talking on a phone, just go bother your Mommy. Wait, don't she'll tell the zookeepers and it's a pain keeping the phone hidden.


There are the sounds of thrusts, kicks, ducking, and rolling. A few twangs of arrows go by, but all the while, the line stays open. "Arsenal?" He seems genuinely confused, then adds, "No, no, this is Green Arrow. Excuse me a moment…"

There is the sound of an explosion, which is quickly followed by the sound of rushing water, a lot of water. "Okay kid, I've got a moment. What can I do for you?"


"Oh… this is embarrassing. Uh, I kinda got trapped at the Queens Park Zoo. I'm in the Asian Monkeys Exhibit. I'm …ooh, more to the left, thanks sweetheart… I'm stuck without my emergency stuff. I've got an emergency clothes cache at a locker at the Queensborough Greyhound, it's locker 12113, there's a key hidden between the bricks on the southeast corner of the building, third brick up from the ground."

Gar is trying not to blush too hard. Fortunately, being green, and a monkey, in a hot-tub, only the other monkeys are noticing.


"…" there is a pause in the conversation. Water can be heard rushing, there are a few screams, though they seem to be coming from the distance, growing quieter. "I'll see what I can do." And the conversation ends. Just like that.

Oliver will clean up whatever it was he was doing, hop on his motorcycle, and head towards the Queensborough Greyhound Station, where after a perimeter check, he'll find a key hidden between the bricks on the southeast corner, third brick up from the ground. It takes a little doing as some vegetation had grown up over it, but it comes out eventually.

From there he'll open locker 12113. And he does it dressed as the Green Arrow. He gets some looks, but nobody stops him. After collecting the clothes, he'll leave the key in the locker, for someone else to rent. There's no sense in this Changeling keeping a locker after the Green Arrow's been there. Between video surveillance, it would be a foolish chance. But the brick would still be good for a new key.

Later, longer than Garfield probably would like, the Green Arrow will arrive at the Queens Park Zoo carrying a backpack filled with Gar's clothes. When he arrives at the Asian Monkey Exhibit, he'll have a confused look on his face. No trap that he can see, but where's the kid?


Mealie worms. In some parts of the world they're considered a delicious and tasty treat, and monkeys love them. Of course. Gar thinks they're delicious as well, but he normally doesn't talk about that because people don't want to know that when he's an animal that isn't human, he can eat what they eat. (There are reasons he avoids being a vulture.)

The monkeys have been pulled inside, but they're still on display via the glass walled climate controlled area. And here's the reason Gar wasn't taken out of the group: they're all green, because someone dropped a green dye into their cage yesterday.

When Green Arrow shows, there's only about twenty minutes before things shut down. This part of the zoo is less crowded because there's some sort of Holiday Experience over at the polar bears and penguinarium.

Gar is the only one of the monkeys who is sitting next to the glass. They took his phone away, apparently. Or, he hid it again.


With people still in the Zoo, Green Arrow had to approach cautiously. Fortunately, it was nearing closing time and there weren't that many people to circumnavigate. He looks around and sees the dyed green Japanese Snow Monkeys, but he doesn't pay it more attention than he would any dyed green animal. It's weird, but what can he do?

So he takes a look at the one near the glass. He's still got the backpack full of clothes. He could probably get someone out of the exhibit, if he had a clue who he was here to help. All he sees are monkeys, and in frustration, "Arsenal, I've got to hand it to you, this is one hell of a joke. A fake accent, a hidden key, dragging me all the way out here, bravo." And he claps his hands, assuming that Roy is hiding someplace. "You can come out now? The jokes on me."


The monkey by the glass looks up. And, talks.

"HEY! You're not Roy at all," it says. "I'm Gar Logan. Could you, uh, go down the hall to your left and go through the red "do not enter" door? You may have to convince the door to unlock. We're on the left inside. It's all covered by cameras, so keep your face hidden, OK?"


That monkey just spoke. There once was a time when that would surprise Green Arrow. He used to think that seeing a green monkey would be odd. But in his time, he's seen far stranger things that that. "No, I'm Green Arrow," he replies simply.

He listens to the instructions, and since he's already wearing his mask, and hood, he's not too concerned about the cameras. Even so, he has a device which can short out surveillance when he knows ahead of time. He does so love his toys.

So a few minutes later, he'll fill the video with white static and make his way into the exhibit. "You're Changeling? Then I believe these are yours," and he'll toss the monkey the bag of clothes, not too hard though, in case the monkey can't catch that much weight.


The monkey upgrades to gorilla and moves from the enclosure to the "airlock" used by the humans to keep the animals controlled. He's strong enough to lift the barricade, and close it behind him. He's in time to catch the bag, and then shifts back to human, relatively normal for a youngish heroish man. Still quite green though, and with strangely fangy lower teeth. One or two of the monkeys seem a bit disappointed when he goes — but they're behind a glass-and-chicken-wire barrier.

"Thanks, man. So I suppose I should explain why I'm here and why I didn't just turn into a pigeon or something?"

Gar adjusts the purple-and-white shirt, and makes a face. "Man, I better remember to go through my stashes and run 'em through the wash and use fabric softener next time."

He heads for the door, while he talks, gesticulating for punctuation.

"So it turns out someone's been taking the animals from the zoos here in New York, but they bring them back later - so it's not clear what's going on. They also seem to like to confuse things by shaving them or dying their fur weird colors. It's not PETA this time because they do bring them back."


This is certainly a new one, but he's had to perform similar duties over the years with his proteges. But that's just part of being a mentor. Ollie takes it in stride.

As he listens to Garfield's explanation, he considers the situation. A hand reaches up to his goatee, which he strokes in thought. "That is odd. It's not really what I do, but I know some people who could help you set up some hidden cameras. Did you find anything by going undercover?"


"Nothing useful," Gar says. "I got taken with the others, but there wasn't anything I could do. They drugged us, and I can't even tell you what was real after a while. But they didn't hurt us. I have to get to a place where we can check my blood and stuff … there might have been something left inside, I don't know what it was about."

Gar scratches his head. "Also I need to get some lice shampoo. Those Snow Monkeys are friendly but they were populated."


Green Arrow isn't about to invite Garfield back to his headquarters. The guy seems to know Arsenal, but he could still be trying to play Arrow. But he does have an alternative. He reaches into his quiver, looking to see if he still has one, but he doesn't. He clenches his fist in disappointment, "I know someone who might be able to help, but I don't have any way of getting a sample to give to… him."

But at the mention of the lice shampoo, Green Arrow reaches into his vest, pulling out pouch and he hands Gar about two hundred dollars, "that should help with the lice, some new clothes, and a cab ride home. I've got your number, so after I check with… my friend, I'll see if I can get a sample of your blood to test."


Gar accepts the cash. "Awesome. I'll take the loan, but I will pay you back later. The Titans have resources for this kind of stuff, and I can check the blood and stuff at ESU. My advisor there has vet credentials. I do appreciate the help. I would totally still be stuck there and nobody's gonna be around until the weekend."

Gar doesn't mention that the resources are mostly from him and his various trust funds, but there's no real reason to share that in a public place.

"Hey, I don't know why I ended up reaching you instead of Arsenal, but I owe you one. Don't hesitate to call if you need some animal assistance. Or, you know, the Titans at large."


Green Arrow doesn't like to let on that he's a billionaire, so giving or lending Gar two hundred didn't seem too out of the way. Most people, especially people who can afford to hero, wouldn't bat an eye at that much money.

"No problem. I… used to work with Arsenal." He offers a gloved hand, "name's Green Arrow. It's a pleasure to meet you Changeling." He only uses codenames, even though Gar has admitted to being called Gar. "If you need me again, you can count on me." It may sound a little forced, there's resignation in his voice, something going unspoken, but he says, "any friend of Arsenal's is a friend of mine."


"I'll remember the number then," Gar says. "I'll text you my contact info. Encrypted, of course."

He waves around. "They still have cameras watching all the public areas, the kidnappers as well as the zookeepers."

He shrugs, and heads for the exit. There is lice shampoo to be purchased.

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