2013.06.06 - Yellow Carjackers and "Batwoman"

A stream of police cross a main bridge that connects Gotham to Metropolis. They appear to be chasing a vehicle, but it takes a few moments to discern which it is.

There!

A yellow sports car hits the gas and begins to wave expertly through the traffic of motorists who are not close enough for the police sirens to notify them they need to pull over and get out of the way.

Just as the carjacker gets across the state line, past the river, and into Gotham, he takes the first exit. It spills him out along the riverside road that lines the old boardwalk area. He's headed to a bad part of town.

As the bright yellow car speeds by, a figure sits

A figure crouches in the shadow of one of the gargoyles that Gotham seems to enamored of. They cover nearly every building, from old to new. They make great hiding places, the outline of peaked ears and scalloped cloak goes unnoticed against the wings and horns and claws.

The bright yellow vehicle speeds past and the profile of those long ears turns to follow. Chatter comes across the linkup in her cowl, translated into her own special software that has a figure doing ASL on her heads-up display so she has an inkling of what the excited voices are actually saying.

PAFT!

A line shoots out, and a shadow breaks away from the others as the darkly clad vigilante swings after the carjacker. It may be a bad part of town, but it's her town. She's learned it well and doesn't need to rely on the layout of narrow streets to chase it down.

The yellow car weaves in and out of the bad part of town. Though Metropolis cops have jurisdiction here, they put in a call for an assist by GCPD. Little by little, it's clear that the yellow car driver has a better knowledge of the streets than the MCPD. His swerving, changing of direction, and otherwise expert driving is leading the cops on a wild goose chase. And the man in the yellow sports car is winning.

Police cars start to be left behind, one by one. Wrong turns, narrow streets, sudden obstacles like oh, people that they're not willing to run over. The yellow car hasn't lost it's tail from above though as it speeds through Gotham's concrete canyons.

Batgirl can't see the driver to predict where he's going, but soon enough he's coming up on an intersection where he's got to turn one way over another and she cuts across over the top of the building and then falls in a graceful tumble towards what seems like the hard, empty street below. Until that is, the yellow car comes speeding down and should *just* intercept Batgirl's abrupt meeting with the pavement.

SLAM!

Batgirl lands atop the vehicle with enough force to put a large dent in the roof. That can be fixed, right? The car idles at the intersection, and it's not clear what's going on below, inside the cabin. The rest of the area is quiet, except for the sirens in the background, which seem to be heading in the wrong direction.

Batgirl doesn't *quite* have that whole understanding of private property vs. 'stop the badguys'. She takes the impact just as she wants to, hands finding purchase to keep her on the roof even if it decides to accelearte suddenly and then she leeeeans forward from the roof to peer back through the windshield at those within.

Batgirl's cowl will lock 'eyes' with the carjacker. A man of mid 30s and a few days of stubble across his face, he gets the strong feeling that he won't be heading to that chop shop anytime soon.

But as the two lock gazes, and as the man makes for the door, the vehicle is abruptly lifted upward and into the air about 6 feet. Batgirl will see a flowing red cape from underneath.

With her full cowl, it's hard to see the widening of Batgirl's eyes in surprise as she feels the car rise up. She disappears from the diver's view as she leans over the side, comically at the same moment the diver sticks his head out the window, to see the ground falling away.

Catching a glimpse of that red cape, Batgirl swings down so she can see who is under there (stuffing the driver's head back through the window as she does so). Her cape sweeps down first, and then those pointed ears peek past the edge of the vehicle's bottom edge as the inverted Bat sees who is jacking the jacked car.

Superman looks somewhat out of place, here in the dark, with his primary colors and smile. "Hello, there," he says to Batgirl. "This guy and I are a bit lost. We don't make it to this city very often. I'm Superman."

During the interlude, the carjacker makes his way out of the passenger side door and leaps down to the ground. He breaks into a run, while Superman starts to chuckle a bit.

One black-gloved hand comes down into Superman's view, the Bat seemingly perfectly comfortable hanging upside down (not really a surprise) and sketches out a tiny little wave that seems to convey her own surprise. And perhaps confusion. The sound of the passenger door opening has her ducking up and out of sight a moment, only to reappear. She holds up one finger in a sort of 'just a moment' gesture and then spills down to the ground in another graceful tumble that has her landing on her feet. SNAPCLACK. Batarangs flip open into her hands and they're flung after the fleeing carjacker, a thin line between them. Clearly some kind of bola, the line catches him around the ankles and the weighted batarangs start to sweep around to tangle him up.

Superman's eyes go red for a moment, they quickly turn back to their normal color as Batgirl springs into action. He sets the car down easily, just as the carjacker gets strung upwards by his ankles.

Batgirl catches up to the crook just after he manages to faceplant on the ground, his dazed state making it easy for her to pull his arms back and secure them with zip-cuffs. Only once she's done there does she turns back to where Superman's putting down the car. Stepping back over to him with a light step she leans forward some, giving the impression she's peering at him.

Superman can't help but chuckle. "Don't talk much, huh?" he asks. "I know that's kind of a thing with you and your boss." Superman nods his head towards the perp, "If you don't mind, I'd like to take that gentleman and the car back with me to Metropolis."

The slight, black-clad figure takes another step closer. And another. Until she's within arms-reach of the brightly clad Man of Steel. She has to look pretty far up at him, giving her diminuative height and she lifts one arm to poke at his arm. Poke. Still, she says nothing. Which for the Batman, isn't unusual. For one of his 'sidekicks'? A bit moreso. Most of them tend to be chatty.

Superman smiles as she pokes him. "Is that a yes?" he asks while looking down at the young heroine. Meanwhile, the dude wriggles around, but he's safely encaptured in Batgirl's restraints.

The easy smiles are kind of unusual, and Batgirl can't help a small smile in return. It's hard to see for most, given the full-cowl. More a rearrangement of shadows than what most think of a smile. "Where?" She finally asks, her voice soft and rough, a certain amount of... focus to forming the words. A focus and concentration that wasn't there in her pursuit or capture of the carjacker. Most figure the tone is some attempt at the Bat's growl but a keen ear might pick up that it's too tentative. The roughness comes from a voice unusued.

"To Metropolis," Superman reiterates. "The police over there are looking for this guy. And the owner of the sports car will be mighty thankful, I imagine."

Well. They might not be so thankful about the dent in the roof, but Batgirl doesn't really think about that. It's the mention of police that has her easing a bit, knowing that the perp will be dealt with by someone. There's a quiet, sort of thoughtful pause, and then the black-clad girl points to her chest, and then to Superman.

Superman looks at her emblem. "Bat? Batwoman?" He's starting to get the idea that she doesn't talk much because she really can't. "You're Batwoman? It's nice to meet you." Superman reaches up underneath the inside of the car and flattens out the dent from the roof. Good as new and no labor cost. He then makes his way to grab the roped up baddie.

"Batgirl." The dark figure corrects. She's finally learned to say her own name. She's learned that signing it at people just doesn't keep the whole 'strike fear into the hearts of men' schtick. She trails after Superman as he goes to collect the baddie, her steps soft enough that if he didn't have those super ears he might thing she was still standing there. Or pulled a Batman and just disappeared. "I... Go with? You."

"Well," Superman says as he looks towards the bad guy and the car. "Hands will be a bit full, but if you want, I could come back and pick you up." By pick you up, he means literally. He lifts the vehicle up into the air, and grabs the bad guy as he floats upwards.

Batgirl's head tilts over to the side, the movement accented by those long ears, and then she gives a slight nod of her head. Apparently, this is acceptable.