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Post by grimknight on Mar 29, 2012 5:32:10 GMT -5
Even though it was a rarity for the Bat to operate in uniform out on the field during daytime hours—desperate times called for desperate measures. Normally Batman would be returning to his Batcave back in Gotham at this early dawn’s hour, shed his suit and began to his grueling detective work over his computer case files. Back in Gotham, that is. However, the Bat wasn’t in Gotham—he was far from it, located in Beijing, China having tracked the Riddler down in this foreign country, apprehended the madman, and now was tying up the loose ends left behind in Riddler’s wake. The sun would rising soon, an anomaly in his world considering the Dark Knight preferred to only work in uniform at night—but nothing had been standard about his international trip. Case in point, he had partnered up with Catwoman (whom was actually Selina Kyle he had just recently discovered) to track down Edward Nigma in China—thwarting the villain’s plan to cause an all-out war based on deceptively deadly misunderstandings caused by the Riddler himself—and bring insane criminal to justice by returning him to Gotham’s way of law. The whole situation was beyond standard protocol. But the Bat worked well with improve and now had the Riddler bound tightly and heavily sedated, kept locked up in his hover jet’s containment cell compartment—hidden from prying eyes.
He had intended to immediately track down and also apprehend Nigma’s known cohort and girlfriend, a metahuman named Dr. Nina Stenet right after the explosive showdown and eventual capture of the Riddler in the business district of downtown Beijing, but the Bat was delayed by yet another unexpected circumstance. Selina had decided to let her inner wildcat out to play and managed to get seriously drunk in a friendly rendezvous with Nina herself. No matter, the Bat, as aforementioned, was no stranger to improve—after all, the Dark Knight was always prepared and carried the undeniable will to act in any given situation. He spent the night back in his safehouse with Selina to make sure she was alright and didn’t suffer from something like acute alcohol poisoning (he doubt she even remembered getting home, let alone being in Batman’s presence without her mask concealing her identity.) The Riddler remained unconscious and drugged in the Batwing’s holding cell and would remain there until Batman left him to Gotham’s authorities in Arkham Asylum. The “rest” he took that night to care for Selina, allowed the Bat to hack into and hone in on Nina’s own cell phone—using the same cryptic decoding he had used on Nigma’s.
Having locked in on Nina’s precise location? He took off early that morning; still clad in his armored bat-suit (now wearing the spare) and travelled with a very much coherent and sobered up Catwoman in his passenger seat. He was all business and didn’t mention a word of what went on between both Cat and Bat last night. The Bat’s focus was solely on rescuing Jimmy Gordon and apprehending Nina given her blatant aiding and abetting a notoriously psychotic murdering madman. It would be within moments the silent specialized and cloaked jet now hovered above the ritzy little penthouse suite Dr. Stenet appeared to be “hiding” in. One thing was for sure, the Riddler was gaudy and brazen all the way from his cheaply threaded green suits, down to the fancy hotel-themed hideouts of choice.
“Stay here.” He growled to Catwoman—his menacing attitude hadn’t changed all morning towards Catwoman.
His grim, dark, cranky demeanor easily showed his disapproval of her drunken antics from yesterday, especially in fraternizing with Nina like she was some old college chum she was playing “catch up” with. He didn’t wait for her to protest; he left the Batwing’s cockpit and used his specialized cape to allow him a smooth glide down to hotel’s roof below…
As the sun slowly crept into the luxurious penthouse’s master bedroom, trickling gently over Nina’s peacefully resting form—so did a looming shadow in the shape of a bat. The rays of sun were blocked by the Bat’s dark, sharp, stony form as he now stood over Nina—who still remained in such a blissfully deep and unaware sleep. Suddenly the doctor would feel the undeniable splash of freezing, ice cold water dumped all over her face in a rather rude and startling wake up.
“Wake up, Dr. Nina Stenet!” Batman snarled—oh yeah, he was in a foul mood for sure. “Where’s the boy?!”
The complimentary hotel room’s digital alarm clock now flipped numbers to reflect the current oh-so-bright and early morning time: 6am.
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Player: Avalikia ~
Registered On: Nov 4, 2010 0:01:40 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 696
~ Relationship Status: Single
~ Character Profile
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Post by Nina Stenet on Mar 29, 2012 6:04:35 GMT -5
Nina got home to find that Edward hadn't gotten back yet, and Jimmy was still asleep on the couch. She'd checked just to be sure, but it wasn't the lingering effect of her having forced sleep upon him when she left - she suspects it's because his nerves have been so on edge he hasn't been sleeping enough and once made to sleep his mind was content to keep him that way. Poor kid. She crumpled up the note she'd left for Edward and spent the evening with her book, eventually waking the boy so that he'd be able to sleep through the night as well. It was late when she finally went to bed, still without Edward returning. But that doesn't seem unusual to her - he often neglects to tell her his schedule and has his late nights.
So it isn't until a splash of cold water hits her the next morning that she realizes anything is amiss. She startles awake with a gasp sitting up in the bed, though when her eyes focus on the person responsible for that, she immediately relaxes somewhat. Oh, it's only Batman. Not that Batman being here right now isn't a bad thing, but there are much, much worse possibilities. Her startle is replaced by a frown as two emotions compete for dominance of her expression: sadness and relief. "You caught him, didn't you?" she says quietly and rhetorically.
It's only then that she answers his question, by shifting her attention to the doorway out of the room. "Jimmy?" she calls as she idly wicks the water dripping down her face away and starts to extract herself from the bed before all the water has a chance to soak through the bedding and get her really wet. Her unhurried movements and relatively calm expression should be an ample indication that she has no intention of fighting. Partly because it's so early, but also partly because she doesn't do that sort of thing. At least, not unless she absolutely has to.
She fumbles around for her crutches, still obviously waking up as Jimmy makes it to the doorway and eyes the room with a look that manages to combine sleepy with startled. "You're being rescued," Nina comments as she shakes her hair a little. Really, was cold water necessary?
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Post by selinakyle on Apr 1, 2012 16:08:29 GMT -5
Some days he didn't get it. Other months it just didn't seem to sink in for him. And one of those timeless things was blatantly telling her what to do. No matter the antics from the prior night, she wasn't going to let him just go in..and manhandle Nina. It wasn't right, nor was it ok. The woman, while loving Edward, the Riddler, a Friend of her own, and maybe considered a wild-card, was actually a very level-headed women on her side of the fence. Moreso than herself, even, which wasn't saying a whole lot.
So as he left the vehicle, Catwoman waited a mere 3 minutes to follow. It gave him enough time to fumble through the window, and she could slip in as well. She'd already done it once before; a second time? Cake. Even with the lingering after-effects of the prior night. Gaining entrance wasn't that bad, and coincidentally, she saw the young Gordon boy sit up, and go to the bedroom, in which Nina popped up in, dripping wet with..was it water?
Setting her jaw, Selina shook her head. He was being a bit crude in his methods. And while she was the stereotypical 'bad cop' of this stereotypical pairing, he was being horrible. And as Nina would know...Selina, and Catwoman were almost more humane than Batman was. Yes, she stole, but when done right, done properly, no one was hurt, injured, or maimed in the process. Well, hurt could be debated, but not physically.
Furrowing her brow at Nina, she mimicked one of Batman's notorious scowls, and jutted a thumb back toward the bedroom. He probably entered that way. Hopefully she could temper the storm before it blew full gale.
Hopefully.
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Post by grimknight on Apr 4, 2012 20:59:26 GMT -5
Perhaps his rage was a little uncalled for, especially given how calm and willing to assist Dr. Nina Stenet was behaving towards him. But, the Bat was going on no sleep for countless days, running ragged on chasing down the Riddler in effort to thwart his tireless antics of mayhem. So, yes, the Bat was cranky. And if the Bat knew about the face Catwoman was making behind his back, mocking him by twisting her face into an exaggerated scowl sharing his own scowl’s likeliness, he would’ve probably exploded right then and there. But, lucky for everyone in the room, including the now present James Gordon Jr. aka Jimmy, the Bat remained unaware of such comical mockery made on his behalf. Instead, he ignored Catwoman’s presence, now aware of her having arrived in the room. In fact, Batman was ready to growl out his demand for Jimmy’s whereabouts when the boy did in fact make himself known.
“Wh-?-… Oh.”
The Bat almost seemed to murmur out upon spotting Jimmy in his peripheral vision.
His intense thinly slit shaped razor white gaze now focused directly back on Nina. “As for you, Dr. Stenet—you’re guilty in my book for both aiding and abetting a known criminal. Because you did nothing to stop Riddler’s scheme, innocent people died.” His voice was low, graveled. “I understand you didn’t personally come up with any of the plotting that went down here in Beijing. I also understand you didn’t personally kidnap Jimmy Gordon, nor kill any of those innocent people yourself. But, you did nothing to stop it.”
A sneer brought itself across his lips. “I know what you are and have an idea of what someone like you can do. Given your clean slate with the law and the minor offense you present here by accompanying Edward Nigma—in all honesty—you’re hardly a dot on my radar. I’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
He took hold of Jimmy now, moving with a certain flowing silent subtly the inky black cape afforded him to maintain. “Rest assured, you’re a mark on my radar, never-the-less. Especially given the sort of company you seem to like mixing yourself up with. My advice? Try attending a CODA meeting if your relationship with a psychotic criminal like Edward Nigma cannot be stopped.”
He paused and then looked to Catwoman then back to Nina. “However, seeing as the heart will choose what it wants? Then so be it. Just know I’ve got my eye on you, Nina. I’ve taken the liberty of informing the U.S. Embassy about your whereabouts. I managed to ensure you diplomatic immunity upon immediate return to the United States, back to Gotham—if you should choose to have the U.S. authorities escort you back, that is. You don’t have to use the U.S. authorities as an escort back to the States if you have other means of travel. Either way, you are not welcome in China, not now and not for a long time after now. And either way, I’m not charging you with the crimes here… But be sure I won’t be so lenient next time.”
True enough; the Bat was going easy because of Nina’s polite and cooperative demeanor, as well as her threat level being so low in comparison to the other Gotham Rogues… And there was the pull that Catwoman had over him. The Bat knew of the friendship that Selina maintained with Nina… So for now, he’d “play nice” as the saying went. He then moved to fire his grapple back up at the Batwing’s cockpit, keeping Jimmy wrapped tight to him—signaling his decision to be final for Nina’s outcome in this case. Unless of course, Nina objected.
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Nina Stenet
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." - Lao Tzu
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Player: Avalikia ~
Registered On: Nov 4, 2010 0:01:40 GMT -5 ~
Posts: 696
~ Relationship Status: Single
~ Character Profile
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Post by Nina Stenet on Apr 4, 2012 23:59:48 GMT -5
When Selina enters the room, Nina glances up and gives her the slightest of smiles, but it fades quickly. But that should be understandable, given that she's just been woken up at this extremely early hour in that particular way to find out that the man she loves has been arrested. It's just not turning out to be a very good morning. However, the small smile returns and even builds a little when she catches sight of the impression - and not a bad one, given that she's in a good position to be comparing the two.
However, it isn't nearly enough to hold her attention when Batman starts to talk to her. And at first she frowns, but not in guilt as he might hope for. No, his words make her angry. Though it isn't a sudden anger - she has excellent control over that particular emotion when she's prepared for it. However, the more Batman says the angrier she gets and by the time he's finished she's absolutely livid.
Even so, though it's clearly burning behind her eyes and visible in her movements, she uses the crutches to push herself to her feet. But she simply stands there as she says, "Now wait just a minute!" Somehow, she manages to keep her voice down, but her anger gives it a certain intensity suggestive of volume. "'Aiding and abetting?' Because I didn't stop him?" she asks, before shaking her head, "Could I have? Of course! But what then? I stop him, you or someone else throws him into a cell somewhere, he inevitably breaks out, and then what? He comes after me for betraying him! Do you actually think he doesn't know exactly what I do? How to get around it? Or that emotions or anything else makes me immune to him? No! You're calling me a criminal for not being a vigilante! I'm neither! I'm a doctor, for pity's sake! I save lives, but stopping him is not my job!"
"You're the one who chose that job, not me. But I can honestly say that I'm glad you're here! I'll admit that I'd hoped that he'd get away, but I am so relieved that he was stopped," she continues, and for a moment the relief that she does indeed feel gains full dominance over her expression, "It's terrible what he wanted to do, terrible that people died! If I could have talked him out of it I would have. I did what I thought I could - I made sure that he'd be as patient with Jimmy as he could manage to be." She pauses for a moment, somewhat calmer now that she's expressed much of what's on her mind. "He's held back because of me several times, you know," she adds. It's not something that she'd ever breathe a word of to Edward, but she has noticed when he reacted to something a bit more... gently, in light of either her involvement or presence. Pointing it out would have probably just made him angry, but she's always appreciated those moments even if a part of her wishes there were more.
But her anger has not yet been completely expressed so she continues, "And don't you dare imply that Edward is not good to me! I'll admit, he's not always been the nicest person, but he's been very good to me lately. I would not be here if he wasn't. When the Question rescued me from the FBI, I knew he would take care of me. And he has - he's been protecting me. I was in urgent need of medical care, falsely accused of being a terrorist... What other choice did I have, really? I mean, I had other options, but they weren't good - I'd likely be back in the FBI's hands or dead right now if I hadn't. And yet you expect me to stab him in the back when he did that for me? What kind of terrible person do you want me to be?"
She takes a hard breath then, but now she's pretty much finished. The anger has faded more to sadness again. Yes, she's glad that Edward has been stopped, but she's certain that his current circumstances aren't exactly happy and it pains her to know that. As well as knowing that it will probably be awhile before she sees him again - she didn't even get to say goodbye to him properly. "But no thanks to the trip back to Gotham - I can get back there myself," she says after a moment, "But I don't exactly want to be there right now. The last time I talked to one of the feds, I was shot. Twice. And I don't know what strings you've pulled, but until I can have some assurance that nobody will change their minds and call me a terrorist again, I'd rather not be there. But I don't want to be here either - I hate China. But I have relatives - in Japan, if you must know - who can take me in and I don't need any help getting there. And I have every intention of going back to Gotham when I know I can. Does that satisfy you?" That last question turns sarcastic, but she's calm enough now.
And this entire time she hasn't moved from where she's standing. She knows that Batman understands her enough at least to know that she's not going to suddenly attack, but otherwise she's not sure what the trust level is. She figures it's best to stay relatively still so that he doesn't have to worry about what she's doing and she doesn't have to worry about doing anything that will be misinterpreted.
Meanwhile, Jimmy's overcome his surprise at what he's woken up to, and wordlessly walks over to join Batman. The dark knight might be somewhat intimidating, especially with the way he's looking at Nina, but it pales in comparison to how scary the Riddler is. The sheer amount of relief on his face speaks volumes. He doesn't even bother to roll his eyes when Nina mentions getting the Riddler to be patient with him - she never really did anything to help him. No, he just wants to go home.
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