The Red Hood was sitting on the edge of an apartment complex rooftop overlooking Gotham, or at least all of Gotham brought to this new universe. He dangled his feet a small bit, lightly kicking the heels of his boots into the bricks on the side of the building. He removed his helmet as he scratched the top of his head, partially revealing his face, despite the small mask he wore over his eyes, which was strikingly similar to the mask he wore in the old days.. back when he was following in that Bat's footsteps.
Jason Todd was confused. He had just finished jumping around the pieces of Gotham that were here. He knows all of Gotham. But why is there only a small portion of it here? In the Gotham he knew, the city was huge; but for some reason, it's packed into some sort of miniature version.. one that only shows the highlights. Wayne Manor, the hospital, the refinery, Arkham... it was all closer than usual.
As he was trying to figure out everything on his mind, he saw a red Ford Focus drive right by him and pulled into an alley not too far from him. "Well well well," he said to himself as he put his red helmet back on. "Let's see if they know anything."
He stood up and quickly made his way to the top of the building adjacent to the alley the car was in. Quietly and smoothly, he jumped over the edge and dropped into the alleyway directly above the car hood.
Smashing his boots into the hood of the car, he crouched as he landed so that he could look directly through the windshield. Immediately after he landed, he calmly began speaking to the two people inside:
"How are you two this fine evening?" he said with a chuckle. "Ya know, I was walking around a while earlier and just happened to notice that this city used to be.... ya know... a bit bigger. Now, is there any chance you two know why?"
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 3:03 am
The car jolted as the super landed on it, and Julianne broke the kiss, yelling, "What the?!" She didn't hear anything the man said because of the glass, though, so all she noticed was a masked man on her car.
She screamed, and started the car as fast as she could; she thought he was going to kill them.
As Gossamer walked by a different alley, a man walked out of its shadows. Even though he was wearing a long jacket that and a wide-brim hat, he was careful to stay in her blind spot, because he knew that she would recognize him immediately (the jacket was the same color as his suit, so it wasn't much of a disguise), and he knew that she knew what he was capable of. Slowly, he reached into his pocket, and wrapped his hand around the grip of a revolver. He followed closely and quietly, waiting for either the woman or the girl to notice him, a bright, huge smile on his face.
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 1:48 pm
TOMMY
Tommy jerked back as the car shifted and Julianne pulled away from him. It didn't take him long to find the red basked man kneeling on the car, and it took him even less time to have just about the same reaction as Julie did. Seeing someone wearing a mask in Gotham, especially around an area this close to Crime Alley, was rarely a good thing. He wasn't the Batman, and he certainly didn't look like that Robin kid that always tagged along with him. So... usually that meant a crook or the newest escapee from Arkham.
GOSSAMER & ROSIE
”You know... sometimes I don't like the fact that you have magic.” the little girl said with a small pout. Her focus still on her mother and the fact that she'd have to go straight to bed now.
”Uh-huh.” Gossamer replied, lightly unamused disbelief in her voice. ”Only sometimes because? You seemed to like your new doll house quite a bit this morning, didn't you?”
”Well... yeah. But I mean the times you... erm...”
”Don't give you a choice about bed or bath time?” Gossamer asked with a grin, shaking a lock of still-red hair out of her face.
”Yeah...” she replied with a long, drawn out sigh. Regardless, the little red head twisted her body around and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck to hug her. Guess if it was only those two things she didn't like about Gossamer's magic... it wasn't that bad then. Plus she got candy and toys whenever she was good at the drop of a hat. And she was right.... she was tired.
With a smaller sigh, Rosie nuzzled her head against Gossamer's shoulder to make herself comfortable. She looked up just briefly as she did so, then closed her eyes to rest while she was carried. Her eyes snapped back open, however, when she realized that there was something behind them. Someone rather... She didn't recognize the man, but she found the color of his outfit a bit odd. Especially for a guy... If she'd thought more on the description Gossamer had given her about THIS particular man, however, Rosie might have been a bit quicker to alarm Gossamer of his presence. Unfortunately, it took a bit of mental evaluation for her to get to that point.
First she noticed that there was someone behind them. Then she took note of the color of his outfit. The fact that he was following closely behind them, and was making no point to walk around them or anything. Her gaze flickered down towards the arm that was half hidden inside his jacket, and her internal alarms finally began to warm up. Hand inside a jacket like that usually only meant that he had a hold of something and was hiding it. Walking so close he probably had a weapon. And he was smiling. It wasn't a nice smile.
”There, see? You don't have much of a problem when...” Gossamer had continued, but trailed off when she felt the little one suddenly tense up in her arms. The type of tense that made every muscle in the child's body freeze and become immobile. Gossamer stopped in her tracks and tilted her head to the side to look back at Rosie's face. The little one's head was up and off of her shoulder, and was staring wide-eyed at something behind them. Rosie didn't do that unless there was something very wrong.
Quickly, Gossamer twisted her upper body around her other shoulder. Allowing her to better see what was behind them, but keep herself between Rosie and... whatever she was staring at.
Red Hood let out a long sigh as the girl in the driver's seat started up the car. He's expecting them to peel out of the alley anytime soon, which is not what he wanted. He raised his voice and tried communicating with the two once again.
"I'm not here to hurt either of you." he was practically yelling. "All I want is some answers to a few questions I have."
Which was completely true. The last thing he wanted was a bloodstained alley. However he was taught by his former mentor to work through fear, and through fear he decided to work tonight.
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 5:35 pm
(Since Angelica had returned to Gotham a loooooong time ago....)
Angelica Jones had been making routine patrols, since her return to Gotham after the Black Lantern Crisis. Working alongside Dr. Doom during the crisis was.... odd at best; however, as Captain America had described to her: "Doom can't conquer the world if it is destroyed..."
Flying above a residential district, the New Jersey native was still getting used to Gotham being where... Newark, New Jersey, her home used to be. Angelica knew it wasn't these people's fault; the blame was solely on an interimentional being called 'X'. Still, Firestar missed her dad... Wait... What was that?
Angelica's green eyes spied something behind one of the apartment complexes: an armed, red costumed man crouched on the hood on a red Ford focus. As an incredulous look took over Firestar's features, she heard a scream and the car in question attempting to start up, "Wait is that... Oh... poop, what is that maniac doing now?"
Firestar changed her flight course to investigate.
............................. As Red Hood was waiting for answers from the frightened occupants of the Ford Focus, the area seemed be suddenly illuminated by a soft reddish orange glow. As Jason could hear something sounded something like... a blowtorch, the newly arrived vigilante heard a woman's voice address him from above, "Hey Deadpool! Is there any particular reason you're frightening the locals, or are you just that bored?"
When Jason or anyone else happens to look up, they will see a masked redhead wearing a form-fitting, flame-motifed yellow costume. There seemed to be a fiery sheath around her. The woman in question was hovering in the air staring at Jason with a slightly annoyed expression, "What's wrong, no smart-a** remarks, like usual?"
Julianne never noticed the woman in yellow, or heard what the man in the red mask was saying; she was too busy screaming out of fear for her life. She never even noticed that Tommy was screaming. As she shifted into reverse, she noticed that the man had guns strapped to his legs. If anything, her screams got louder as a result of seeing that. She slammed on the gas, sending the car backwards fast. Instinctively, she whipped the wheel to one side, turning the car as it went out onto the road.
The white-skinned man with the red smile drew his hand out of his pocket, bringing a revolver out. His smile somehow grew wider as Gossamer started to turn her head, his head lifting to allow both of them to see his face.
Some of his bright green hair was visible from under the hat, but what really came into focus was his eyes. They were filled with a maniacal intensity as he said, "Hello, Gossy."
Then, he swung the gun at Gossamer's head in an attempt to pistol whip her into unconsciousness.
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:04 pm
TOMMY
Tommy turned himself around to try and watch out the window for the costumed man as Julianne sped down the road. He was a little more aware than she was that there was another costumed person in the area than Julie was, but that was only because he was watching behind them. The bright yellow costume was a little hard to miss in the dark Gotham skyline.
GOSSAMER & ROSIE
Gossamer's eyes widened the moment she was able to fully see who was behind them. The outfit was rather familiar to her, and the smile was more so. She moved her feet to turn herself around just a little bit more, but not all the way. She was still under the impression that things were... unresolved between herself and the Joker. She wasn't putting Rosie anywhere near him despite the way it seemed as though he'd been caring for the other child. She wouldn't put it past him to kill the one she was caring for.
She only managed to move her feet just one step before he lifted his head. The look in his eyes was all she needed to see to know that her concerns for Rosie were on the dot. Her eyes widened a fraction more, and she instinctively spun on her toes to try and move away from him. She couldn't cast a spell and worry about his gun at the same time. She needed to get Rosie someplace safe at the very least.
Unfortunately, she had no time to react. He had swung faster than she could move, and before she could even think about throwing up a spell. The only thing she had managed to do was move just enough that the blow knocked her off her feet rather than unconcious.
She grunted as the pistol struck her, and collapsed onto the ground. Rosie screamed as she was brought down with Gossamer. The woman's spelled appearance faded as she fell. The red hair faded back to black, and her "normal" attire morphed back into something a little more her. Belted, light armored, a gun strapped to her hip, and a blade to her leg.
Dazed, head spinning and sidewalk spinning, Gossamer lay nearly sprawled on the ground with Rosie still wrapped in her arms. The child tried to pull herself out from under Gossamer, but couldn't seem to decide if it was safer for her to stay put or to try and run away.
The Joker took the few steps needed to stand right over Gossamer, checking whether or not she had been knocked out. When he noticed that there was still a light on in her eyes, whether or not anyone was actually home, he said in a voice that had lost all of its usual whimsy, "Did you miss me?" His smile remained intact as he asked the rhetorical question, making it all the creepier.
Then, he swung the revolver again, looking to finish the task at hand. He didn't want her dead, just out.
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:29 pm
Rosie decided upon backing away from Gossamer once Joker moved to stand over her. Every little warning Gossamer had given her about the Joker flooded back as she watched him stand over her mother. Fight or flight reflex was screaming at her to run away while his attention wasn't on her. But she just couldn't bring herself to abandon Gossamer.
She watched helplessly as the pale man in purple swung his gun again. Her body jerked as a loud crack rang out along with one last grunt from Gossamer. She doubted Gossamer was dead, but was positive that after two hits like that, she wasn't getting up anytime soon. Let alone use any magic.
The clown looked at Gossamer again, and decided that she was good and out. "I thought so. You're just dying to see me," he said, chuckling to himself. He looked at the little girl, and said as his expression softened, "Hello, Rosie. I have one of your copies, too." He stepped towards the girl, and said, "I have a question for you. Did Gossamer treat you well?"
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:53 pm
Comic_Book_Joker
innocent little Rosie
(Sorry to interrupt, character-wise I just couldn't let this go unnoticed.)
The Count had been pacing back and forth in front of the television in his office for a while by the time he noticed what was going on in the city. He had the television set to display the various feeds he was receiving from traffic cameras all around Gotham but he had not been paying attention to the scenes that were unfolding. He was in the back of his office, several stories up in the firm he owned, and he was making a new mask. His previous one had been made of a very vulnerable fabric which he had learned was a bad idea many times. A scar that ran under his right ear proved that. So now he was using some of the excess metal he had from manufacturing his arrows to create a steel mask. Sure it wouldn't completely stop a point blank head shot but it would stop gunshots from farther away and bullets that just skimmed him from causing any lasting damage. With a bit of extra work and somemore layers welded in the mask may become even more resistant. He may even go to Carla and ask her what kind of metal she would advise for physical protection but he would not do that tonight. Tonight he had bigger problems, one of which was now displayed plainly in the upper right corner of his computer screen. It was a scene depicting three people. One a pale white with green hair, the other sprawled out on the floor, and the third so small, with bright red hair. It was then that Edmond turned and saw the screen. He saw the image and was thrown back into memories of another girl very similar to the one in peril. One he had abandoned. Regardless this girl would have answers, and he wanted answers. So in haste Edmond put on the new metal mask and threw on his hood before arming himself with his bow and a quiver of arrows. Wether or not this girl was just another clone she had to know something and that was the only reason he left the office. After checking what street it was occurring on Edmond put the building on lock down. The doors locked, elevators shut down, and all of the hidden compartments containing evidence that he was the count shut. Then Edmond ran. He ran u the stairs onto the roof and he leapt off it into the night. By night it is meant that he leapt from the roof of his building to the roof of the next building over and he continued to run and jump from building to building in that direction. Edmond knew he had little time judging from what he had seen and he needed the girl alive. When the Count arrived the elder of the two females seemed not have been knocked unconscious if not killed, he had not seen when that occurred because he had been in pursuit at the time. What Edmond did know was that the pale man with green hair was not someone he would reason with. So the Count nocked and arrow and took aim but he held it. If Rosie looked up she would be able to see him and he would let her make the call. Even if it wasn't the Rosie he had known, the girl would know wether or not she wanted a chance to get her and her friend out of the fray. However in the dark clothing he was wearing Edmond was not sure she would see him so he remained vigilant for any reason to loose the arrow.
Rosie looked up at Joker as he approached her. She couldn't seem to find her voice at first, but managed a shaky reply. His expression had softened, but Gossamer warned her that he was very dangerous if he was mad at her. Hitting her like that didn't seem like he wasn't mad at her.
"Y...y-yes." she began. "She... she said she was s-sorry about letting all of me get l-lost. She... she's been like a... like a real mommy."
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:14 pm
"Ooh, I'm sorry, but that was the wrong answer," the Clown Prince of Crime said, his smile returning to its more crazed state. The arm holding the pistol came up, and fired a round into her thigh, his intention being to nick an artery. He was no Deadshot, though, so he wasn't sure if he'd found his mark.
The little girl screamed as the bullet sank into her leg. A sound that was a mix of pain and absolute terror. She collapsed again to the ground, this time because it would be impossible for her to do anything more than lay on the ground. She was in a great deal of pain, and loosing enough blood to terrify her.
Nine1122
That's fine, it gives the Count something to do. Joker and Gossamer HAVE to escape though. Rather, Joker needs to be able to kidnap Gossamer and get away. The plot between the two has been waiting for this for a LONG time. sweatdrop
