June 19, 2016:
Bluebird and Anarky face off.. sort of. It was confusing.
Diamond District
Characters
NPCs: None.
Mentions: Batman, Catwoman
Plot:
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
Anarky sits on the roof of a large bank, casually typing on a small laptop. He might seem almost innocent if it weren't for the red hoodie with the massive anarchy symbol on the back. Not to mention the blank, featureless white mask that hides his face from the world.
His gloved fingers dance over the keys as he completes a line of code, hitting enter and giving a satisfied sigh. His eyelids flutter inside the mask as he leaves the trance-like meditation state he uses to devise his most complex codes. Now it's just a matter of making sure that the bank's servers have processed the Trojan. He considers eating an energy bar, but decides to wait a little longer. Fasting makes the brain work more efficiently, the evolutionary drive to find food creating a nice mix of adrenaline and increased metabolic rate.
There are also a few bottles on the roof nearby, lined up, with a cloth jutting out of the neck. The smell of kerosene from them is palpable, although the filters on his mask save him from the worst of it. He has plans for those as well.
Harper and her bat drone. She never leaves home without it. Or her trusty bat bike. God, that thing was the bees knees. After a night at the Tin Roof and two days recovering at home, she was back on the grind again, whipping and winding through the streets, her eyes focused upon the road and the little video feed that plays upon her screen. What was this?
A guy on a rooftop?
The bike crawls to a slow as she kicks down, feet planted upon the ground as she begins to tap away at the console of her cycle. The drone stops not too far away from where the man sits, high in the sky.. and..
"Oh. A hacker."
"Orac.. ah.. nevermind. Solo dolo it is!"
The bike was soon wheeled into the darkness of the alleyways, WayneTech's super ultra invisiblity cloa— HAHAHA, kidding! But Bluebird was already gone once she made sure her ride was secure, the drone soon flying away with a push of the button as she crosses the street with a run that takes her into the darkness of the night.. winding through that alleyway to happen upon the building that she begins her ascent -UP-.
With a hop and an 'oof', she crouches, keeping low to the ground, ignoring the bottles for now but sneaking nearby to watch the masked/hooded man for a brief time. "Just what is this weirdo up to."
Anarky hears the oof, if only because he's detached himself from the screen for the moment and has become mindful of his surroundings. One must always center their concentration on what they're doing in the moment. Lonnie has trouble with that, his mind often racing far ahead of him, ambitions outstripping capability. He's trying, though, which is how he hears the soft sound of the vigilante creeping nearer to him.
He rises to his feet, checking the progress bar one more time. A
Anarky hears the oof, if only because he's detached himself from the screen for the moment and has become mindful of his surroundings. One must always center their concentration on what they're doing in the moment. Lonnie has trouble with that, his mind often racing far ahead of him, ambitions outstripping capability. He's trying, though, which is how he hears the soft sound of the vigilante creeping nearer to him.
He rises to his feet, checking the progress bar one more time. About a third of the way through. Ten minutes, on the outside, depending on how well the bank's wifi worked at night.
"I wonder which one you are," he says aloud, knowing well the panoply of vigilantes Gotham had to offer.
Her cover was blown.
It wasn't like Bluebird was an expert sneaker just yet. She still had more training to do. "Smooth, blue. Real.. fuckin' smooth.." She mutters to herself, falling back upon the side of the roof, finally taking in the whiff of the air to smell.. yeah. Whatever was in those bottles did not smell good. Could be kerosine, could be gas. Could be ether. Whatever. It was flamable and that was no good.
"Well. I was about to ask you the same thing." Harper calls out, drawing out a little mirror to hover over the edge to get a quick glimpse, her other hand patting herself down to retrieve a bata.. no. Another bata.. no.. smoke bom.. nah.. Batarang it is.
This one was going to be a pot-shot, for her fingers press down upon the batarang which ejects it's little wings, which was soon thrown hard over her head. Dumb aim, but.. usually they'd find their mark.
If she was Batman..
Anarky doesn't get hit by the batarang, but it does clip the monitor of his laptop, shattering it in part. That won't keep the download from completing, but it will keep him from checking its progress. Not to mention, well, it breaks the damn thing. It was just a disposable he brought for the purpose - he knew there was a chance of it getting damaged in the field. But still -
"Normally, I'm pretty supportive of property damage," he says calmly, reaching down and picking up one of the molotovs. "The entire concept of private property, of course, promulgated largely by the monied classes as a way to keep their lessers fenced in - this property is mine, you may only use it with my permission and so forth. Nonsense. That said, despite my philosophical understanding of that notion, I grew up inculcated with that system to such a degree that I can't help but feel a bit of agitation when someone breaks my stuff," he says, drawing out a zippo and lighting the bottle.
He flings it on the roof, causing a massive gout of flame to explode outwards, creating a field of fire between him and the unseen vigilante as a buffer. By his calculations, he needs 5.3 minutes to complete download.
She could hear it, the TING of metal and the whipping sounds of the batarang returning to it's owner. Her hand snatches up, plucking it from the air to return it to it's rightful pouch, immediately rolling upon her knees to face the young man.
"Whooooo-eeee.. You talk to mu—.."
The crash of the cocktail upon her side of the roof has her bolting right up, leaping to land upon the edge of the roof with a flailing of arms that keeps her from nearly falling off of the edge. The rush of the fire causes her to duck, covering her ears in that faint moment, remaining crouched upon the roof as she looks towards the man with a scowl.
"You almost burned my hair!"
Hand snaps to her side to draw her grappler, shooting it towards a lightpole high above the two buildings to draw her up with a snap, kicking her feet out to aim her towards his.. well.. laptop instead. Cause, Harper is totes ruthless!
And reckless!
Anarky extends his hand and, with a flick of his wrist, expands his bo staff as he draws it from his belt. He uses the length of the stave less to hurt and more to guide, striking the swinging vigilante enough to send her off to the side of his laptop. Looks like he was going to have to guard it until he was finished.
"I actually like your hair, so for that I apologize," he says. "You know, you could have asked what I was doing or tried to reason with me before resorting immediately to violence. Of course, if you're one of the Batman's proteges, I presume he's baptized you into his jackbooted cult enough that any attempts at conversation may not have been fruitful. But it would've been nice," he says.
The flames backlight him as he faces down with Bluebird, reaching down to select another cocktail. "This one was meant for the diamond exchange next door. Blood diamonds, straight from the mines of Africa. The profits of slave labor, dangled on the manicured hands of whatever plasticine barbie doll Bruce Wayne hires to be his beard on any given week. Not that such matters make a difference to you hero types. Good guys good, yay. Bad guys bad, punch punch."
He.. didn't hit her hard? What the hell?
That strike sends her rolling as she yanks her arm to send the wire flying, snapping into it's grappling gun as she tucks and rolls and slams against the lining of the rooftop exhaust. And.. he likes her hair?
She takes her hand upright to draw through her locks, her eyes criss crossing to stare down the blue. It was fading a little bit, and growing long as all get out. And getting rather unruly.. wait.. the fight..
"Asking.. you.. I could smell that crap from a mile away!" Harper protests, pushing herself to a feet with a smack of her hand against the ground, running towards him with both hands waving almost frantically. "WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH! Hold on! Hold.. HOLD on! Okay okay. I give. I'm a Bat.. person. Bluebird.. cause you know I didn't want to fall in with the norm. I mean, tights are alright? Capes and shit? But.. I figure I should have my own style. You get me.. but.. woah! Let's talk about this buddy. I -promise- not to throw shots if you just put that thing down.."
Anarky cocks his head, considering, his featureless mask offering no clues as to the man beneath. "Bluebird? I like it. It's not as overtly threatening - although, of course, the kicking feet and the projectile throwing probably add an edge," he says.
"This thing?" he says, holding up the cocktail. "I think I'll hold onto it, just for the moment. You really don't want me putting it down. Might spill and, well, with the heat from the flames behind me, it might just ignite all too easily. Stray ember and all that," he says. "But, if you like, we can negotiate something. Say, I'll forego my intended vandalism - of the diamond exchange, of the mob lawyers across the street, of the financial planner on the seventh floor there - and will just finish up what I'm doing here. Which will take around 2.3 minutes. No lives will be lost. No one will be hurt - physically. And the ones who are hurt, well, I can promise you, they deserve it. They deserve it richly indeed," he says.
Blue keeps her hands up, her fingered gloves slightly dirted from touching the roof, even as she takes a step closer. It was a bold step, considering what he's saying, her gaze canting towards the computer, the lense within her face mask lighting up briefly as her hand slowly lowers to retrieve her phone from her back pocket. She was pressing the buttons, words scrolling along her lenses as he could visibly see the way her brows lower. He.. eh?
Jesus tits. He was like a male Oracle and Catwoman rolled into one.
And fifteen parts of her kind of crazy.
"OH. Well." She had -no- clue how to handle this. This was totally out of her job description. And this was as awkward as hell. I mean.. well.. if you think about it? Batman fucks up the local architecture all the time, right? Right?
"I… uh.. well. Thanks. For the compliment. And yeah. I like those terms. Those.. terms are good. Now who are you and.. yeah.."
Awkward much?
Anarky may not visibly smile, but he certainly does under the mask. This one wasn't as bad as he imagined. Batman, of course, would be a different story, he was sure, a tool of the Establishment in black leather. But this one - he could easily see how a young person could get caught up in the thrill of hunting criminals, especially someone who'd been harmed by it. And who in Gotham grew up without being harmed by criminals?
Well, there were those privileged few - but Anarky was going to change that.
"Anarky," he says. "I am the rising tide, the winds of change. I am the hole in the dike, entropy setting into the great capitalist machine. I am the end of empire," he says.
"Tomorrow morning, three corporations will die, since the courts insist that they are people. Those corporations have, among them, around 5.3 billion dollars in assets, only 2 billion of which are visible to the so-called authorities. They have invested a great deal of those funds in the suppression of protest around their sweatshops in Southeast Asia, where eight year old fingers bleed to sew the tiniest of stitches necessary for their products to match the exacting specifications of their exclusive clientele."
"When their CEOs awake, they will discover their assets gone, their accounts emptied. Numerous human rights charities will find themselves simultaneously enriched, through untraceable and anonymous donations. The playing field will not be level, but it will, at least, cease its endless tilt in only one direction."
For a moment, Bluebird just stands there, listening to his -entire- diatribe. I mean she really gives it a listen, one brow lifting, the other lowering.. lifting again and..
"I.. don't mean to be gross but if you're the hole in the dike does that mean you're a vagina?"
There was a quiet moment, to where she starts to sniggle, her hand drawing up to press against her lips as her foot strikes out to drag the crate closer, plopping herself down upon it as she watches the half chipped computer screen flicker in it's damage. "Bad joke."
She doesn't really protest. She just shakes her head, leaning a little bit to the side to retrieve a protein bar that she needed to eat. The wrapper was peeled, bitten.. and soon she was chewing with a little bit of a huff to stare over the rooftop. "Hope you brought a fire extinguisher." She comments. He was.. honestly not a bad guy. The data that she sees on her lenses confirmed that fact. And.. it was clear that she couldn't stop it if she tried.
"Anarky. I kinda like that."
Anarky smiles, "I'm aware of the double-entendre in the phrasing, but I like it anyway," he says. "And I would absolutely be fine with being a vagina. Providence knows enough men have caused plenty of evil in their day trying to be cocks," he says.
"The fire will burn itself out - the roof is only stone and metal, after all, and once the kerosene is burned away, it will extinguish," he says.
"Yes. I like it, too." he looks down for a moment and there's a soft ding as the program finishes, the audio crackling a bit as the download is complete. He kneels down and presses a rapid-fire sequence of ten digits, then control-alt-delete, "This is wiping the hard drive. And I mean an ac:smiles, "I'm aware of the double-entendre in the phrasing, but I like it anyway," he says. "And I would absolutely be fine with being a vagina. Providence knows enough men have caused plenty of evil in their day trying to be cocks," he says.
"The fire will burn itself out - the roof is only stone and metal, after all, and once the kerosene is burned away, it will extinguish," he says.
"Yes. I like it, too." he looks down for a moment and there's a soft ding as the program finishes, the audio crackling a bit as the download is complete. He kneels down and presses a rapid-fire sequence of ten digits, then control-alt-delete, "This is wiping the hard drive. And I mean an actual wipe, not the easily reversible kind I'm sure your mentor has people to undo for him," he says. "Donate it it to some educational foundation or something. With a new monitor, of course," he says.
Anarky smiles, "I'm aware of the double-entendre in the phrasing, but I like it anyway," he says. "And I would absolutely be fine with being a vagina. Providence knows enough men have caused plenty of evil in their day trying to be cocks," he says.
"The fire will burn itself out - the roof is only stone and metal, after all, and once the kerosene is burned away, it will extinguish," he says.
"Yes. I like it, too." he looks down for a moment and there's a soft ding as the program finishes, the audio crackling a bit as the download is complete. He kneels down and presses a rapid-fire sequence of ten digits, then control-alt-delete, "This is wiping the hard drive. And I mean an actual wipe, not the easily reversible kind I'm sure your mentor has people to undo for him," he says. "Donate it it to some educational foundation or something. With a new monitor, of course," he says.
Bluebird practically loses it, cracking up for a good portion, nearly spitting out her protein bar in the process. The second crate was kicked over, and with a lean she grasps it and stands it upright, all the while he types, she just remains silent.
"Nah. Ain't nobody going to want that ol' thing." She shrugs. "Besides, Laptops are pretty cheap now a days and most kids are smart enough to add to the cheap ones for a lower price. It's all good."
Still, something didn't sit right with her. This guy was practically borderline. But she was content enough to let it be for now, this one was going to have to call for some research. "Sit a spell. I got an extra protein bar. Got chocolate in it."
Anarky smiles, "I brought my own," he says, opening up a latch on his belt and drawing one out. It appears to be handmade, wrapped in deli paper, "I mix my own granola, add some honey and a few supplements. The ones you buy at GMC are usually little more than sugar and carboyhydrate - useful, yes, but you never know how many additional compounds they've slipped in under the guise of nutritional additives," he says.
He's a bit bemused by the idea of this vigilante going from trying to bust him to wanting to eat a protein bar and hang with him, "Probably can't linger too long, in case anyone calls the fire department," he says, gesturing towards the still rippling flames.
Bluebird looks up towards Anarky with a shake of her head. "Yeah, making your own is a bit expensive. At least I can afford the dollar crap." It was the generic brand, probably injected with plastic. But it was damn good plastic and harper was going to eat it.
"Eh. No ones called yet. By the time someone actually looks, it'll be out. Besides. Sun is coming up and I'd rather not run for the last few hours of me being awake."
So yes. Harper was going to sit with a maybe-villain and watch the sun rise.
Weird.