2013.07.19 - Catching Up on the News

It's going on 9PM, but in New York it's still dinner time. Especially for businessmen who keep long hours trying to put the finishing touches on proposals while keeping up on other projects. A black Hummer H1 rolls up to the pizza joint known as Angelo's, followed by a second, nearly identical vehicle. The first parks, while the second continues on around the block, keeping a reasonable distance. The driver of the parked truck exits, a man of obvious wealth in a three-piece suit, and enters the pizza parlor. Once inside, Justin heads toward a booth at the back of the restaurant, acting like he owns the place. The smell of fresh paint and the change in decor are instantly noticed. The CEO takes a quick look around as he takes a seat, wondering if the remodel was planned or the result of something that happened since he was here last.

"Hey, Angelo, good to see the place is back to normal!"

That's Keith. If the voice could be mistaken, the purpleness could not. He engages in some light talk with Angelo, visibly relieved that Angelo has no hard feelings... after all, he helped save the joint. "My usual, please, I'll be over her--' He pauses as he heads down the aisle and looks at Justin. "Oh, hey, Justin," he sounds surprised to find him here at this hour. "It's been some time."

The CEO looks up as he hears his name, setting the menu down that he had just picked up off the table. He smiles somewhat tiredly, though the expression still has it's usual edge to it. "Keith, how ar-" he cuts himself short and the grin he had falls as he sees what sort of condition the cat is in. "What the hell happened to you?" Justin asks, the concern not completely faked. He waves toward the booth he's sitting in, inviting the Cheshire to join him.

"Oh... The Joker." Keith says, slowly sitting down. "...he decided to give me a few love taps to thank me for his vacation. I'm afraid I screwed things up rather badly." He brushes some of his hair away from his face. It has gotten shorter, but he has bangs that still fall over sometimes.

The frown on Hammer's face deepens. "I read about you putting him away, then about the break out. Didn't know you got so torn up... Y'know he trashed the TeXpO a couple weeks ago too. Guy's a freak and a lunatic." The waitress comes over to take drink orders, and Justin orders a soda. He also tells her that the tab is his, as he has no intentions of letting Keith buy his own meal this evening.

Curses, foiled again. Next time, Gadget. Next time.

"It's not an experience I'd care to repeat, that's for sure. It's... taking me a little effort to get back out there after it. They called me instead of Batman, that was the stupidest thing... the second stupidest thing was that I asnwered."

That gets a raised brow. "They called /you/" Justin points toward Keith to accent his words, "Instead of the Batman? I think you just hit the big time." He leans forward, his elbows on the table. "And it wasn't stupid. You took a risk- we all have to take risks once and a while. Otherwise, how do we learn? Am I right? You lived, and you learned, that has to count for something." Hammer again looks over the feline. "Have you gotten medical treatment at all?"

"Justin, Justin, deep breaths. They called -me- because I was registered. And probably that bat-signal was busted at the time. Being registered means they always know where to get you, whereas with Batman you always end up wondering if he's blowing you off or fighting Killer Croc and can't see the signal."

The cat nods at the question "Yeah, I went to the hospital... broken ribs, though Brynn mended them later on... god, that hurt."

Justin snorts lightly. "That's the problem with people like the Batman. Totally unreliable. They end up putting more people in harm's way than they help." There's a bit of an edge in Hammer's words, one that hints at his dislike for the hero types out wandering the streets. He nods lightly and looks down toward the menu on the table, then back to Keith. "At least you were treated. Broken ribs, that's a pretty painful injury. Nothing to scoff at. You still don't look like you're a hundred percent again. If you need help with that, let me know. I know some excellent physicians."

"Thanks... these are just minor stuff, the swelling will go down soon enough. What's inside is the bigger problem." He looks up at his personal pizza arrives and grins, grabbing for a knife and fork and starts eating it.. proper-like. It may have something to do with the manners his mother instilled into him, or it may have to do with the fact that grabbing sticky cheese stuff is not good when you're covered in fur. Or a little of both.

"It's just been a bad week. There was an assassin that was sent to kill Eddie, apparently. I didn't know but I crossed his path and he poisoned me with a dagger. I spent a whole day out of it in Asgard. Then I come back to find that my friend... Booster Gold?... some six-armed monster woman made him explode on Times Square." he sighs, "And the it was Arkham time."

"Damn... I leave town for six days, and everything goes to Hell." Justin shakes his head and gives off a nervous chuckle. The waitress drops off his drink and takes his order when Keith's pizza is delivered. Once she's gone, Hammer looks back to the heroic feline. "They have any leads on any of the incidents? I mean, they catch any of these guys?"

"Well, I'm one of the people keepinng an eye on Eddie until the elf is captured... on Booster? No. I even cut a deal with an occultist and he hasn't really come up with any answers. And the Joker is at large, but in hiding. No doubt planning something big..." Keith sighs. "I worry. Because I can't hide my appearance... I worry that he'll target Patrick to get to me."

Justin cocks his head slightly. "Patrick?" he asks, not knowing the name. The waitress returns, dropping off the pizza he ordered, then takes off again fairly quickly. Not skipping out on his usual routine, he tucks his napkin into his shirt collar before picking up a slice of pizza.

Vorpal leans forward a little. "Er... he's my boyfriend. We live together in a dinky apartment in South Gotham. Because I can't have a secret identity.... well, all the Joker would need to do is look for me and not very hard."

Perhaps surprisingly, Justin doesn't even bat an eyelash. He simply nods. He had already figured out Keith was gay, and honestly didn't care. Social issues aren't something that Hammer generally takes much of an interest in, unless they lead to large-scale conflict he can profit off of. "If you need anything, security detail, weapons, surveillance system... Just let me know." There's no way that Justin will let someone like the Joker ruin one of his prize publicity connections.

"That might be a little extreme... that level of security in one of the tenements would definitely attract the attention of someone. I don't know how he does it, but he seems to have men everywhere... the Arkham Asylum break out? It was an inside job. Or at least that's what the police are thinking at this time, looking at some of the footage. Goodness knows where else he has his minions." Keith shakes his head.

Hammer shrugs lightly, taking a bite of the pizza. "Well, you can always relocate, too. I could help you with that, if you want. i could get you two a great place in Metropolis that would have a lot tighter security." Even as he says this, though, the thought that the Arkham breakout was an inside job bothers him. Justin already has paranoia issues, and that doesn't help.

"I can't let you do that, Justin. You know how I feel about people spending money on me. Right now I have to stay where I can pay the rent," Keith chuckles, "But thank you for the offer... but... you know? Why not contact Eddie. He's the one with an extradimensional elf out to kill him. It'd be good for Thor and Sif to know their son has good security."

"Don't think of it as someone spending money on you," Justin says with a wave of his hand. "Think of it as payment for the pest control services I hired you for. The road goes both ways, y'know. I was willing to pay you for that gig, and you're the one who insisted it was pro bono." He lets that part of the conversation drop, and won't push it further. He's made it clear that he'll help Keith if the feline asks for it. Hammer will protect his investment, that's all that matters. He nods and thinks over Eddie's situation. "I thought he lived with Thor and Sif? If not, I would be completely willing to help where I can."

"Well, you know that Thor and Sif are in Asgard for as long as Thor remains king, you know... Eddie's on his own when he's down here in 'Midgard' as they call it," Keith says. "Then again, the threat is a little... supernatural. I'm not sure if the wepons of this world are very effective against it."

Justin frowns, then nods. "That's a division that I'm still working on trying to form," he mentions offhandedly. Working on weapons to defend against less than conventional threats would certainly land him some juicy contracts, if he could make them work. "I didn't know that Thor was confined to Asgard. I thought kings were like presidents, and could travel around. Good to know. Well, you have my contact information, if I recall, so feel free to pass it along to Eddie should he need anything at all. After all, any relation of Thor and Sif's is a friend to me."

"I'll make sure he knows it. How's the business going, everything going well? I saw you talking with... it was Bruce Wayne, wasn't it? At the wedding? I was surprised he was invited."He remembers how the man had spoken to him. Not what he expected. Keith did that.

Hammer takes a drink from his soda then leans back some. "Business is going alright, I think. It's the usual chaos, panic and disorder. Got some new contracts, have a couple projects that are finally starting to come together. The usual." He grins lightly as he recalls the wedding. "Yep, was chatting with the great Bruce Wayne himself. Also ran into Sebastian Shaw. There was quite the crowd, a lot of high-profile faces." And no sign of Tony Stark, which just made it all the better, in Justin's eyes.

"I had heard Bruce Wayne was a playboy and a bit of a, well, you know. But he seemed surprisingly nice," Keith says, sipping on his drink. "Then again, he could be a bastard and just pretends to be nice to people, for all that I know."

A bastard that just pretends to be nice to people? Sounds like someone else the feline knows, though Justin wouldn't admit it. The CEO nods lightly, picking up another piece of pizza. "I haven't talked to him much. Rarely get the chance when I see him at big social functions, so I dunno if his reputation is worth anything or not. Sorta surprised we got a chance to chat at the wedding." Hammer wasn't as surprised as Keith to see the other mogul, since he figured that gods and goddesses would invite some pretty elite folks to their wedding.

"I did get a chance to meet that redhead ... Pepper... Pepper Potts, that is. I saw her the other day... she was pretty nice as well. I don't understand why I keep crossing paths with people like that, but I suppose it's the chaos magic, right?" he nibbles on his pizza.

Before he can completely squelch it, Justin's expression falls to a frown. He covers it pretty quickly by taking another bite of pizza. That also helps stall for time as he formulates a response. "Oh, yes, Miss Potts. She's Tony Stark's personal assistant. I think she practically runs that company /for/ Stark, to be honest." Even though Hammer loathes any mention of Stark, Stark Industries or anyone who works for them, at least the conversation reminds him he needs to get his space reserved for the upcoming Stark Expo. Perhaps he'll just go down to Stark Tower in person and get everything arranged.

"Well, I can't say much about Tony Stark. Never met him, and I will never run in the A-list circles of heroics... but she was nice. Not anything like I'd expect somene in her position to be. She was like you, actually." The cat eats his pizza. "Though, of course, you have better fashion sense, I'd say."

At that Justin nearly chokes. He covers it, somewhat, by setting down the pizza slice and taking a drink of soda. He just swallowed wrong, that's all. Really. He forces a chuckle, raising his glass slightly toward Keith. "I like to think that I rock a vested suit pretty well," he says by way of a thanks. "So things were pretty busy while I was gone. Guess Fern didn't keep the city from exploding like she promised she would." This is followed by a more honest grin.

"No, and I have to meet with her... though I have been avoiding her, to be honest..." he says, leaning forward quietly. "... if the Joker is after me and targeting people I care about, then what's keeping him from kidnapping Fern if his men see me interacting with her? That's why, after you're done eating your pizza, you had better make signs of being disgusted with me or leave in an argument, so that they don't think there's any friendship between us. You do have a crack team of security, and I'd never let the Joker take you while I'm alive... but after two encounters with him, I'm not sure how long I could keep the 'alive' part of the deal, if you catch my drift.

The grin falls quickly into concern. Justin sets his drink aside, but doesn't pick up the pizza again right away. "You think he's really going to be after you that badly?" he responds, voice uncharacteristically low. "I'll watch my back, don't worry about that." Again the CEO glances around, thoughts dropping into a bit of paranoia as he takes stock of who else is in the pizza parlor with them.

Vorpal shrugs, looking down at his dish. "If the Joker were easy to predict, Justin, he wouldn't be the Joker, you know? I'm in talks with Huntress and her network to see if there is anything we can do to stop him before he can do something."

Justin nods, then starts eating again. "That's true, true... But you put him away once, I think you could do it again. I mean, you've got your illusions, right? That's gotta mess even with the Joker. Especially since that guy's gotta be a couple cards short of a full deck." He's placing a lot of confidence in Keith, and completely underestimating the Joker. His run in, if you could call it that, with the clown wasn't a good example of what could happen.

"Justin, I think you don't understand how dangerous the Joker is..." Keith says, "...alright... try to imagine the most dangerous man in the world. The most psychotic, and th emost deranged, all put together in one. Try to imagine that, and tell me when you've got an image of what that kind of person is like, alright?"

The CEO shakes his head. "But if he's really that nuts, I mean really, then he's got to be at least somewhat suseptible to being fooled." He does try and put together an image of the Joker, combining Teb Bundy with Charles Manson and tossing some Al Capone in for good measure. "Though, how does he get people to follow him? You said he's got henchmen, and he certainly had people working with him at TeXpO. How does he do it? Why would anyone follow someone like him?"

"He isn't THAT kind of nuts, Justin. You got those people pictured in your mind? Alright. Now take away the regard for personal safety, take away having anything to lose... and add the kind of intelligence and sharp genius that only someone dancing on the edge of madness has. I saw the man break his own hand just so that he could tear a policeman's throat apart. How does he do it? How did Charles Manson get people to follow him? Hitler? Attila the hun? The joker is insane. But he's also brilliant. And anyone who underestimates him as nothing more than a loony clown is the next person who dies, Justin." Keith shakes his head. "You have no idea how close I came to dying."

That causes Justin to pause. Again he nods, glancing at the half-slice of pizza he's left holding. He sets it back down in the pan, no longer really hungry. He had thought of The Joker as nothing more than a crazy idiot in clown makeup, not as someone of some measure of intelligence. He was quite lucky at the expo, his security acting quickly and properly to the situation. "Well, let's just hope that he doesn't decide to focus on you specifically. Maybe he'll move on to a bigger target, like Batman or Captain America."

"He has no interest in Captain America. He is obsessed with the Bat... and Huntress told me the Bat is becoming more and more scarce, and nobody knows why. Which means, "Keith shifts in his seat to lean forward "That he's going to try to get Batman's attention. With something 'big'. Which means a lot of innocent people could die. I can't wait and hope Batman will swoop down from the aether and take care of the problem, Justin, lives are at stake. They always are, when the Joker is loose. And this time, it could be catastrophic." He shakes his head. "No. I can't just let it pass."

Hammer sighs lightly. "You do what you gotta do," he replies, holding his hands out, palms toward Keith. "Just, if I may, don't go in alone. Sounds like you've already been talking with people, and I think that's going to be your best bet. And if you need gear, of any kind, let me know. I'll do what I can."

"Thanks Justin... I'd ask for a weapon, but I'm afraid I have no training whatsoever in anything but melee." He smiles a little, "... but thank you for worrying. At least if I die I won't be immediately forgotten." He chuckles, showing a bit of gallows humor.

"Training's no problem," Hammer replies, sitting back in the booth. "I can teach you how to handle a gun easy enough. And I can recommend any number of good combat courses. I've taken quite a few myself." It's true, Justin has been through several combat courses and even practices combat style maneuvers, though he's never been in a real combat situation and would likely be useless in such. The CEO cracks a grin at the dark humor. "No way we could ever forget the purple fur. I'm fairly certain that's burned into all of our brains at this point."

"Nice, apparently I am a PST" Keith chuckles "... training and a weapon could work. Just... as a precaution. I'm not allowed to use lethal force, but shooting someone's kneecaps can put a dent in their plans to kill you, you know?"

Justin chuckles at that. "It does, it does. Just let me know when and what, and we'll talk." Hammer looks up when the waitress brings the check over to the table. He pulls his wallet out and hands her a bill that more than pays for both meals. When she starts to tell him she'll return with change, he simply shakes his head and waves her off.

"I will... I'm going away for a few days, but when I come back, I should be able to schedule something." Keith slides out of the booth, smirking at Justin paying the tab. "... I'll let you know, alright?"

Giving in to some of the paranoia that's sprang up around the Joker discussion, Justin hardens his expression. "You better let me know. And you owe me, cat. Don't forget that, or I'll take it out of your hide." His tone is sharper and darker, and it almost seems a bit too honest to be an act. But Keith wanted it to sound like they were parting on poor terms, so that's what he gets. The CEO stays seated, letting the feline hero take his leave first before heading back to his vehicle.