Bobblehead (bobblehead) wrote in dc_nextgen,
@ 2012-10-19 18:57:00

Entry tags:

Gotham Fashion Week
Gotham wasn't quite New York or Paris, but its yearly high fashion show was one of the rising stars of the industry, recent and small enough that a lot of independent designers were there, big enough to start getting some of the names. Definitely big enough to draw Pippi's attention. She had her mom's handler arrange everything for her for all the events, her hotel, transport while there and so on, along with a chance to survey the town a little. She's heard all sorts of interesting things about the city - but mostly that no one there likes clowns. The circus even has to not use its clowns when they go through... she figures that's probably why everyone is so gloomy there.

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	bobblehead 2012-10-24 02:42 am UTC (link)
	"Oh, they wouldn't do that. They want to help. I'll get them some food afterward for doing good and starting when I tell them." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

cantkeepmeout
2012-10-24 02:47 am UTC (link)

"But are you sure," he has to stress. "What if they get scared by us or a..." He looks around for something as an example and on cue a kitten happily runs into view, wanting to see the new people on his roof. "Okay, there, what if the pigeons get scared by a cat or something? Not that we can't use your idea, but I don't want to risk people's lives because of pigeons getting spooked. So if you've got animal understanding powers now would be a good time to say so."

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	bobblehead 2012-10-24 03:33 am UTC (link)
	The Pippi you're dialing is not currently in service on account of kitten. "Eeee! Kitty!" Despite the noise, the kitten doesn't seem at all startled, bounding right over to her. "I'm sorry kitty, but we're fighting crime right now. We'll talk later." Pippi explains while snuggling it. Not much question, she has something with the animal kingdom, anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

cantkeepmeout
2012-10-24 03:49 am UTC (link)

Thomas sighs, and decides to wait out the kitten squeeing. Though he feels a tug on his cape and sees the kitten's friend trying to climb his cape. He carefully picks the other kitten up and puts him on his shoulder while giving the little guy ear scratches.

"We'll try the pigeon thing but if they do it too soon then the priority is getting the hostages out safe, the clowns are secondary." He couldn't dislike her if she appreciated cats like that.

"So summary: pigeons, hostages, clowns, and then kitten time. Deal?"

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	bobblehead 2012-10-24 04:14 am UTC (link)
	"Deal." she agrees readily, on noting his appreciation for the other kitten. Definitely earns him some points. She meanders back to the pigeons once she convinces the kitten to leave them alone, and does her best to communicate their role in things. No guarantees, but she seems to think it will work. "Just say when." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

cantkeepmeout
2012-10-24 04:22 am UTC (link)

Thomas isn't really banking on the pigeons but he'd let her try, backup plans were always ready. While she communicates with the pigeons, Thomas is busy with a kitten on each shoulder, fondly petting them while he finds a safe spot to leave them. They each get a kitty treat from his belt (yes that thing was stocked with a lot) to keep them in place and he goes back to Pippi.

"Alright. We go sneak in, stay on the rafters if you can and then I'll signal for the pigeons. Deal with the bad clowns and I'll deal with the hostages. Let's go."

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	bobblehead 2012-10-24 09:35 pm UTC (link)
	"Ok, got it." She assures. Which, with Pippi, may or may not be at all reassuring. Nonetheless, she springs into action, actually making some effort to sneak. "You're going to need to give the pigeons a way in though, if you want their help." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

cantkeepmeout
2012-10-24 10:17 pm UTC (link)

"I know. I'll blow a hole in a wall and your pigeons can flock in through there. You and I will use the distraction to get the hostages to safety first. Then we wrap up the clowns."

The odd twosome sneak towards where the clowns have the hostages, and Thomas breaks them both into the place before signalling her to stay put while he sets up the explosives on the side farthest from the hostages. Once done, he moves to a perch on the opposite side of the warehouse from Pippi and begins counting down with his fingers so she can see.

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	bobblehead 2012-10-24 10:26 pm UTC (link)
	Pippi has a few last words for the birds, who mostly seem to be doing pigeon things. Amazingly, she does know how to count on fingers, and has enough attention span, currently, to wait for the signal. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cantkeepmeout 2012-10-24 10:42 pm UTC (link)
	Good thing he only counts down from three then. Best to keep it simple. If the pigeons didn't do their job at least the explosion would be enough of a distraction to give him time to smoke bomb the hell out of this place. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2012-10-24 10:55 pm UTC (link)

When he hits three, there's an explosion. And then... well, nothing at first. Pigeons are pigeons.

Then Pippi points towards the shocked looking clowns.

"Those are the guys hiding french fries from you."

That small reminder cues a not-quite-as-lethal scene reminiscent of Hitchcock's The Birds. Apparently, its tough to get the pigeons motivated, but once they get going - well, there's a lot of them.

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	cantkeepmeout 2012-10-24 11:10 pm UTC (link)
	Resist urge to facepalm. What was the point of sneaking in if you were just going to announce yourself in the end before you could even take advantage of the distraction? Ah well, at least the pigeons eventually came through. Robin, who thankfully kept his cover, takes advantage of the chaos and dives down and goes straight to where the hostages are tied up. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2012-10-24 11:15 pm UTC (link)

This is where the other oddity makes itself clear. Aside from a few pigeon droppings, not a thing touches the hostages.No random accidents, no stray shots or thrown, sharp things from the surprised Jokerz, no mis-aimed birds. Its like chaos has given them all a free pass, despite the nature of the situation.

Even Pippi manages to not hurt anyone when she sets to freeing hostages.

With a running chainsaw.

Nope, not a single scratch on them. Their nerves might be another matter.

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cantkeepmeout
2012-10-24 11:23 pm UTC (link)

The hostages that are freed by Robin seem particularly grateful. Mostly because they managed to avoid a run in with the chainsaw really.

After telling Pippi to cover their backs, Robin moves forward to kick down a back entrance so the hostages can start filing out and to safety. The cops are on their way but that leaves plenty of time to deal with these clowns.

He finally lets himself smirk for the first time during this team up. "So...time to show these clowns how a circus should work?"

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	bobblehead 2012-10-24 11:26 pm UTC (link)
	Pippi is more than happy to cover them, and few people want to run towards someone with a chainsaw, even if its away from swarming pigeons frisking them aggressively for french fries. At the question, she blinks, looking a little optimistic after a moment. "Wait... you brought an elephant?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cantkeepmeout 2012-10-24 11:29 pm UTC (link)
	"I would have but the elephant is too advanced for these guys. We need to start them on a physical comedy routine." He seems a bit more relaxed now that the hostages were out of the way, cops were coming and the Jokerz were on the ropes. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bobblehead
2012-10-25 06:59 am UTC (link)

Pippi nods. "I think I know just the thing."

Rather than wading in, chainsaw swinging, she acrobats her way towards the leader of the Jokerz, cutting off his escape - and lashing out with a direct blast from her hairpiece.

What at first might seem like some sort of attack... well, definitely hasn't done any harm physically.

After a few moments of confusion, however, the former vicious psychopath is going out of his way to make sure the hostages are alright, apologizing profusely to anyone he can, trying to convince the gang that surrendering peacefully is a much better option than violence - all while offering to help members of the gang with their various personal problems. If Robin ever cared which gang members were afraid of spiders, or needed a night light, taking notes right now would be good.

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cantkeepmeout
2012-10-25 11:06 am UTC (link)

While he takes mental notes on all the secrets the leader is revealing about the other Jokerz, Thomas isn't quite sure what to make of this power of hers. On the surface it seems like a mind control thing, which rubs him the wrong way. But given what little he knew about her from her file, that description isn't quite accurate. Still, he wants to be sure it isn't a permanent effect, as useful as it is right now.

"How long does this last?" He jumps off the shoulders of one clown onto another and continues, knocking them down left and right even when they get back up. Between the two of them they were certainly making a dent here.

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bobblehead
2012-10-25 03:00 pm UTC (link)

When the leader is taken care of, Pippi throws herself into the fray, fighting mostly defensively, but dodging about, destroying Jokerz weapons with chainsaw parries - mostly tying some up til he gets to them, but knocking a few out here and there.

"Oh, he'll be back to his old self in a couple days. He just needs to rethink his life. Til then, he'll be trying to help all of his friends out with their problems... maybe they'll figure out how to be funny and get a better act."

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cantkeepmeout
2012-10-25 04:10 pm UTC (link)

"I doubt it. These guys are never funny," he says but is a bit relieved the effect wasn't permanent. Mind control was just a big No for him.

Oddly enough, the two of them work well together. Between her disarming them and Robin's work knocking them out, the Jokerz fall fast. It was a bit like a circus act, certainly acrobatic enough, and of course bewildering enough too. At least Thomas didn't need to worry about Jokerz with chainsaws in the future.

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bobblehead
2012-10-25 04:22 pm UTC (link)

The work is, oddly, helped by the fact that the now pacifistic head Joker is doing all he can to help with the first aid and all. Pippi is showing no signs whatsoever of controlling his behavior or actions now - it just seems to be some sort of cross between temporarily turning someone into a pacifist, and making them want to help /everyone/ with their problems like some over-intrusive guidance counselor for a bit.

Should he check up later, even if they're not considered high priority by anyone, the Titans do have files on the Rainbow Raiderettes, all of whom have some kind of emotion-affecting power among their known and catalogued abilities.

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cantkeepmeout
2012-10-25 04:27 pm UTC (link)

While he did skim the bat files on her, it was quite a different thing to see it in action. Now that he knew she knew Dinah, he might ask her for more info on this girl. In case she ever came around here again, it was good to know. And there were some things that the files did not cover. Like her odd...train of thought, because logic was too strong a word for it.

Finally the sirens can be heard coming closer and Thomas surveys the damage and looks at the head Joker, wondering what to do about him.

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	bobblehead 2012-10-25 04:29 pm UTC (link)
	Pippi smiles at the head Joker. "It would probably be best if you turned yourself in. After all, some of your friends probably have special dietary needs and medical issues the police wouldn't know about, right? You can help everyone, and if you're really good, maybe they'll write you a good recommendation to a proper clown school." she offers helpfully. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

cantkeepmeout
2012-10-25 04:37 pm UTC (link)

Thomas just pursed his lips and stayed quiet. This clown would certainly not be going to clown school, frankly he'd probably be back on the street if the system didn't think they had enough charges, but she knew what she was doing so he'll let her deal with him.

"Let's head out so the police can wrap this up." He pauses to try and put this in more convincing terms for her so it goes along faster in case. "Next on the list was kittens remember?"

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	bobblehead 2012-10-25 04:51 pm UTC (link)
	For now, the clown is happy enough to comply. At least it would get them held for a bit, and if asked, he might confess a few things to the police along the way, trying to be helpful. Pippi was likewise going to be helpful - but, well, kittens! "Eeee! Let's go!" she calls, leaping back up into the rafters and towards the roof. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)