[a / b / c / d / e / f / g / gif / h / hr / k / m / o / p / r / s / t / u / v / vg / w / wg] [i / ic] [r9k] [cm / hm / y] [3 / adv / an / cgl / ck / co / diy / fa / fit / hc / int / jp / lit / mlp / mu / n / po / pol / sci / soc / sp / tg / toy / trv / tv / vp / x] [rs] [status / ? / @] [Settings] [Home]
Board:  
Settings   Home
4chan
/qst/ - Quests


File: BeatCopHeader7 (Final).jpg (546 KB, 936x1125)
546 KB
546 KB JPG
BRIEF RECAP:

It all began with a small box located in the undercarriage of a boosted car, parked outside a warehouse with mob connections deeper than Gotham Bay, Officer Mark DeLucia; a fresh faced Rookie with the GCPD and a power of his own. Shivers allows Mark to communicate with Gotham City, sometimes he's shown seemingly random visions, or given fleeting scents and sensations typically as a warning. Instead of using this power to operate as a vigilante as many others have done he instead decided to join the Gotham City Police Department and use his ability in the open. Not hiding behind a mask or a secret identity he seeks to do whatever is in his power to make his city just a little bit better for the everyday person.

The first few months of the job have been hard, facing a plethora of woman troubles, home invasions, and more than a few attempts on his own life Mark has carved out a solid group within the department alongside his GCPD Mentor Mitch Hawthorne, the long-toothed detective Thomas 'Gray' Bennett, and former Army Captain turned cop: Luke Kimble. Those connections alongside The Question and Huntress vigilantes have been vital in Mark's mission to stop The SIM Killer, Mafioso Hit-Man who seems to possess his own Dark version of Shivers. Starting his investigation off-the-books Mark now finds himself at the tail end of a successful sting to strike at the Mob Families that employ SIM and back in the sights of Firebug, who seeks to kill current Mayor of Gotham: Harvey Dent and anyone who would protect him...

======
"You're wrong there, Kimble. The driver made the smart choice, he's perfectly fine, better than we found him even. You can't build your house on rotten timbers and expect it to stand forever. This is your last chance, all three of you. Walk away now and let me burn the debris, clear the way for your department to build Gotham back up again the right way."

You swallow hard and give a look to Banks, his eyes are fixed on Firebug but his breath is shallow and rapid while his eyes seem distant and unfocused. A delicate touch to his arm makes him jolt as he turns to face you.
"We aren't listening to this right?"

A voice over your shoulder replies.
"Maybe we should.."

You turn to Kimble who has his barrel now pointed slightly down. His eyes avoid yours.

"Kimble, are you serious?" You shout whisper as you lean in. He pulls away from you and refuses to meet your eyes.

"Think about it. He's gutting the department, putting us in dog and pony shows, he isn't a leader. Not to me. If it was Reiner, or Hawthorne, or Gordon in there I'd die before I let anything happen to them. But Dent..."

You grasp his shoulder and turn him to face you, in his eye you see the same glint he had when you were at Maroni's where he made the deal.
"Let's walk away...DeLucia." He says quietly, but his eyes raise to meet you as he finishes. "Let him go into the car if he wants, let's be done with this. That's an order."
>>
You blink once. A trickle of sweat drips down your forehead, drawn by your furrowed bro into your eyes. You blink the sting away and look past Kimble to the rear window of the SUV.

"There's nothing worth protecting back there.." Kimble says quietly, his eyes now locked onto yours.

You blink again and feel the rising heat from the side, your neck itches and the skin feels tight, you roll your head and swallow hard. Does Kimble really think he can order you to walk away from something like this? This isn't right, even though you don't like Dent personally you would never leave him to a fate like this, not when so much of Gotham still believes in his vision.

You grit your teeth and exhale slowly as your hand slinks down to your pistol. Kimble's eyes follow and flick back up to you filled with shock and scrambling desperation.

"Mark, don-"

He can't even finish his sentence by the time you clear the holster. You whip the pistol up and turn simultaneously as you set your hips flush with Firebug. Time seems to move in slow motion as you feel Kimble grasping your shirt, but you know you're faster, by the time he has enough fabric to yank you'll have already put a shot off. You clear your mind and let training and instinct into the driver's seat as your finger presses against the smooth trigger you see the shadow of a long barrel rising beside you. Banks stuffs the butt of his shotgun into his shoulder and joins you. You exhale and squeeze.

>Give me 3d100 for Mark
>Give me 3d100 for Banks

Mark will be a best of 3 due to your time spent focusing the Quick Draw.
Declare who for when you roll, as usual.

I trust you guys to use common sense and only double dip on rolls if it's been a while, to keep it moving.
>>
-FOR NEW READERS-
If that intro-bit got you interested you can catch up on the entire story here:
https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=DetectQM

For my current readers here is a refresher on your current abilities and perks in the attached picture if you need it.

As always, I always love to get feedback so if you want to chat about the story, share theories on the case, etc in-between updates I love getting to read your thoughts. Thank you guys for following along and enjoying the story.

Also unrelated but whoever in the previous thread said they could read one of my scenes and picture it in their mind as a comic page, that is a great flattery and I thank you.
>>
File: PERK-Listing.jpg (92 KB, 888x545)
92 KB
92 KB JPG
>In the attached picture if you need it.
>Doesn't include it.

Here you go, gonna stop self bumping my own shit now.
>>
Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>6003334
BANKS
>>
Rolled 28 (1d100)

>>6003334
Lets go marrrky boiii
>>
Rolled 88 (1d100)

>>6003334
mark
>>
Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>6003334
CRIT SUCCESS FOR BANKS BABY, HERE WE GO
>>
Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>6003334
Mark
>>
Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>6003334

Come on Banks, take his fucking head off.
>>
>>6003383
Fuck.
>>
ROLLS:

MARK - 88

BANKS - 92

DC: 85

RESULT: PASS!

Banks had Best of Three because of the pep talk you guys gave him at the hospital, good work fellas.
>>
Ah shit, Kimble means that the mayor isn't in the car, doesn't he?
>>
The end of your barrel explodes in a flash of heat and light but you keep your eyes open the entire time, academy training keeps your hand steady and your feet planted but your heart pounds in your chest like some sort of caged animal. Your ears ring and you can barely hear Kimble screaming next to you as the hand that was reaching for your shirt closes into a tight wad of fabric and you feel his knuckles graze the back of your neck as he grips your collar. Every sensation is like feeling the ripple from a far thrown stone, you definitely didn't expect your first field discharge to be against a guy with a flamethrower.

He rocks backwards as your shot impacts and he looks down to the dirty and dusty chunk of lead embedded in his chest-plate. His thick gloved fingers run over it once before his head raises and he grasps the foregrip of his thrower. But before he can lift it even an inch another explosion rocks your ear from the right, you feel yourself being pulled and dragged along but you still catch a glance of Banks' face as the cloud of hot gas is blown away. The crazy bastard was smiling.

That's all you can register before your field of view is suddenly and violently reoriented as Kimble slams a foot against your front shin and rotates with that grip on your side and collar he heaves, with strength you didn't know he possessed, you go face first onto the hood of Dent's SUV and don't have any sign of stopping. You pull your arms up to cover your face as you flop off the other end like a limp bag of sand. Strangely enough you don't feel any pain as you scramble back to a seated position you hear another boom as the Shotgun is fired for a second time and you hear agonized groaning being filtered through an old military radio.

It feels like a bubble pops in your ear and all the sound comes rushing back in. The smell of gunpowder and whatever mixture Firebug has in those tanks assaults your nose and for the briefest of moments you feel as if all the air in your lungs vanished.

"Banks get the fuck back!"

A shuddering gasp from the other side of the SUV mirrors the return of your own breath and a familiar FWOOSH sounds as harsh light spills out from below. The sound of scattering gravel and scuffing boots preface the arrival of Kimble and Banks, the latter of which is being dragged by the face in a basketball grip. Kimble whips his arm off of Banks and crouches low.

"What the fuck are you thinking?" He asks Banks.

"The suspect was still alive and resisting, sir, I wanted to check-"

He's grabbed again and shaken harshly as Kimble screams red-faced.
"You weren't checking shit. You were going to execute him, like this is some kind of fucking movie. News flash, Banks, nobody wants to die. So the next time the enemy is within reach of his fucking weapon you will not fucking approach him. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir.." Banks answers him, quiet but not meek.

Kimble closes his eyes and takes a sharp breath.
>>
"Next time. Just shoot him from a distance."

Kimble turns to you and slaps you in the side of the head.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asks.

"I could say the same thing to you, telling me to leave Dent? Are you insane?"

He squeezes his eyes again and shakes his head.
"Mark." He starts quietly. "Dent isn't in the fucking car. Okay?"

"What?"

"Yeah. He never was, I thought you knew that."

"How would I possibly know that, sir? I was in the crowd the entire time."

"Because I looked at you! I looked you in the eyes."

"You always look people in the eyes."

"Exactly! Which makes it real fucking suspicious that I didn't look at yours until I brought up leaving Dent."

"Kimble that just made me think THAT is the thing you were serious about!" You whisper-shout.

"I'm not good at this subtle shit, this is why you and Gray are the thinkers and Hawthorne and I are the hitters. Fuck!" He utters the last words as another spitting of flame jets out, leaving a splotchy trail past the rear bumper.

"What do we do now?"

"Banks put him on his ass, then he tried to be John Wayne and almost got toasted. Again. That asshole is probably just sat right now trying to feel his legs again, but he has his hands on that thrower."

"I might have knicked one of his fuel lines with my second shot." Banks chimes in. "I saw some kinda spray from around his shoulder, too far from it to be blood though."

"So he's spewing napalm all over the place?" You ask.

Banks shrugs.

"Fuck me." Kimble mutters to himself, pulling his own pistol and checking the mag and chamber. "I've got one mag."

"Three, I have your belt you can split from me."

Kimble takes the magazines and pockets them before getting his belly to the ground and peeking beneath the SUV.

"He's still down, but he's sitting up. Using the damn nozzle as a crutch."

"What's the plan?" You ask.

"We have to stop him now, we have him hurt." Banks replies to you, his eyes glinting.

"Easy, killer. He's wounded and now both of you know Dent isn't here. There's no reason to stick around, if we keep the car between us we can sneak off."

"Retreat? Are you serious?" Banks replies.

"Watch yourself, I get this is payback for you but we are not safe just because that asshole is winded. For all we know that suit has IED's set to blow if he goes dark."

Banks sucks his teeth and Kimble turns his head to you along with Banks, both men wait to hear your input.

>"We should finish this now, he won't stop coming for the mayor, we have to take him out."
>"We need to stop him, he isn't going to quit chasing Dent if he can, we have to take him in."
>"We need to get out of here, we got lucky earlier and hurt him but if he get's lucky one of us dies."
>"We need to retreat, back-up is coming in and even if he takes off we have choppers to pursue. We aren't alone."
>Write-In
>>
>>6003434
>Write-In: use our powers?
>"We need to stop him, he isn't going to quit chasing Dent if he can, we have to take him in."
>>
>>6003434
>>"We need to retreat, back-up is coming in and even if he takes off we have choppers to pursue. We aren't alone."
>>Write-In
Hes hurt and hes dropped that jetpack of his. Hes going to be slow. We open the car door on our side and hoof it, he'll think we took dent with us and we can lead him to the oncoming reinforcements.
>>
>>6003434
>>6003457
Supporting this. If we try to retreat, might as well do it on wheels than on foot. Plus we can keep the ruse up.
>>
>>6003457
+1
Damn sorry Kimble. I guess we players were too retarded huh? Does this count as a victory of sorts, or is this a fuckup?
>>
>>6003457
+1
Have Banks shoot him a couple more times to cover our retreat.

That, and I find the image of this jackass using his flamethrower as a crutch to be very funny.
>>
>>6003434
>"We need to retreat, back-up is coming in and even if he takes off we have choppers to pursue. We aren't alone."

Kimble, our anchor if authority, has lost both Delucia and Banks already in trying to communicate that Dent isn't in the car-> this suggest a status of continued confusion and DeLucia still defends his pov of that moment, so that's a while in our trio's alignment. That increases the odds of Banks Or Kimble dying while we're scattered, so it's best to maintain everyone's safety. Let's not just retreat, but make a plan and grid the area to keep a reference of time so we can have more cars scanning the street. Firebug is injured and slow, that makes him desperate- so he'll be quick to make a scene if he's spotted/cornered by a delirious state of survival so keep all scanning officers advised to use high precautions. This should locate him in very little time.
>>
>>6003457
>>6003479
>>6003501
>>6003578
>>6004007

You turn to Banks and shake your head.
"We need to retreat. Back-up is coming in and even if he takes off we have choppers to pursue. We aren't alone."

You see his jaw set with gritted teeth and his hands wring the cold metal of the shotgun. You put a hand on the gun and reiterate.
"We aren't alone."

He looks up and sighs, nodding, before he looks to Kimble.
"Lead the way, sir."

Kimble nods appreciatively and begins to take a few steps backwards, you hold up a hand.
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't give him any reason not to walk into a trap of our own."

You place a hand on the silver handle to the backseat and Kimble grins.
"This is gonna piss him off."

"Good." Banks chimes in. "Let him follow us, he won't be able to resist."

You pull and the door opens, a pleasant jingle plays and the dome light illuminates the empty rear seats, you hear a grunting and groaning from the opposite side and begin to drag your feet through gravel making a loud ruckus.
"It isn't safe here, Mr. Mayor, come with us." You say just loud enough to be overheard. The responding jet of flame let's you know it worked.

"AGHHHH, HARVEY!" He screams.

You, Kimble, and Banks stay low and scuttle backwards, keeping low enough to the ground for the SUV to obscure your escape. Kimble plucks his radio from your belt and cranks the dial, cycling through channels until he finds one with active EMS coordination.

"Dispatch, come in this is Officer Kimble, 1-Adam-1. I'm being pursued by the suspect, requesting additional units and whatever else you can spare."

The radio crackles back.
"Copy, go Channel 6 for coordination with scene command."

As Kimble adjusts the signal you hear a sound that drops your heart into your stomach. The whirring and loud rumbling of that Jet-Glider's engines firing back up. Banks mutters a curse under his breath.
"That thing is still working?"

"Would be pretty stupid to only bring enough fuel for a one way trip." You respond.

"Kimble? I was waiting for one of you, this is a secure channel. What's the situation?" A familiar voice comes through the radio.

"Gray." Kimble says, relief flooding his words. "Things are FUBAR right now, I sent the Mayor away in a News Van it should be heading for City Hall right now."

"I'll coordinate some units to meet them. What's the 10-45 on your perp?"

"Wounded but not bad enough to stop him, EDP and in pursuit since he thinks we have Dent."

"Who's we? Give me full details."

"Officers Banks, DeLucia and I."

"DeLucia." He calls out from the box. "Where is Hawthorne?"

You grab the radio as you reach the end of the gravel and touch the sidewalk of the main street.
"I don't know, we got separated when we arrived. I evacuated civilians to the parking lot, but I didn't see him. Right now we're probably near the main street leading to the Fashion District."

There's a long pause and then it crackles again.
"I can have a SWAT truck meet you there, full load."
>>
"We can't stay on the main streets, he may be going airborne."

"The other option is to hold position, I can try to get a team to you ASAP."

"Sir? If they come barreling down the street he's going to see them coming. They could-"

Kimble places a hand over yours and releases the button on the radio.
"He knows." He says steadily.

The radio crackles.
"Repeat that. What should I pass along?"

Kimble and Banks both keep their eyes upwards and guns at the ready.
"Way I see it we're fucked either way." Banks mumbles.

"Definitely not gonna be easy regardless.." Kimble follows up.

You look down at the radio in your hand.

>"We'll be hauling ass down the main street, have SWAT set up at the end, if he's in the air when we get to them it'll be like shooting skeet."
>"We're heading down main street now, have the SWAT team meet us halfway if they can. It won't be an ambush but maybe seeing us group up will scare him off."
>"We're hunkering down, there's a few buildings here that we can set up in and try to hide out until the cavalry arrives."
>"We're hunkering down, there's plenty of alleys in Gotham, when back-up arrives maybe we can surprise him."
>Write-In (encouraged)

I'd very much so like to hear your guys game plan ideas for this situation, if there is anything you want to ask me to better inform your decisions please do.
>>
>>6004332
>"We'll be hauling ass down the main street, have SWAT set up at the end, if he's in the air when we get to them it'll be like shooting skeet."
Much as I don't want to drag him all along Gotham while he's pissing fuel, we need to maintain the ruse and keep him focused on us. If we can survive long enough to get him into position, I think we have a decent chance of turning him into swiss cheese.
>>
>>6004332
>"We'll be hauling ass down the main street, have SWAT set up at the end, if he's in the air when we get to them it'll be like shooting skeet."
We should also get some water cannons/ fire trucks.
>>
>>6004332
>"We'll be hauling ass down the main street, have SWAT set up at the end, if he's in the air when we get to them it'll be like shooting skeet."

Have SWAT concealed and ready to ambush Firebug at the agreed point. When he lands, have snipers target his thrusters to prevent an escape.

Green tip 5.56 should handle the rest. QM, does GCPD stock armor piercing rounds? If so, tell SWAT to load them up.
>>
>>6004363
+1 this
Having fire safety units nearby will help suppress any disasters and treat any burns on-site in minutes
>>
File: Spoiler Image (1.68 MB, 2480x3190)
1.68 MB
1.68 MB JPG
God damn it, I suspected Kimble was trying to buy time, but I brushed the idea off. If only he said "There's nothing worth protecting back there.." earlier we would have got it. At least it kind of works as characterising Mark as a little brick-headed when it comes to DUTY AND JUSTICE.
>>6004332
>>"We're heading down main street now, have the SWAT team meet us halfway if they can. It won't be an ambush but maybe seeing us group up will scare him off."
I'm going with "Just shoot him" plan. SWAT pack assault rifles, they should put his ass down. There is now way they won't be able to hit an airborne target, and the range/accuracy of an AR is much better than the range of a flamethrower.
>Call for fire trucks, and if possible a helicopter. This guy's escape plan is to fly away leaving a massive smoke trail, this should be very easy to spot from the sky.

I plan on shooting him more with SWAT guys, then having a helicopter see where he flies away to, then Gordon hopefully sends more guys there. This is gonna be a long hunt, and some people are gonna get fried on the way. This is just how it is with supervillians.

If he gets away AGAIN, we could squeese Dent for GCPD budget. "See, we can't shoot down the guy who's hell bent on killing you, our guns are too small". You know how people in real life america are complaining their police is too militarised with ARs and armored trucks and such? We should get some of that.
Also have this sketch. I'm fighitng for my life trying to draw comic panels
>>
>>6004332
>"We'll be hauling ass down the main street, have SWAT set up at the end, if he's in the air when we get to them it'll be like shooting skeet."
>"See if someone can shine a spotlight at him, blind him and light him up at the same time. Not from where SWAT's gonna be."
It'd be even better if it was a strobe, with how disorienting that shit is. I mainly want to NOT die here, so throwing him off any way we can is ideal.
>>
>>6004413
Strobe light disorient is a creative idea, but hopefully it won't fuck with the SWAT aim too hard. They can just turn it off before shooting happens, but then Firebug will know and evade
>>
>>6004411
I forgot to put this in my post in >>6004473 but THAT LOOKS SICK THANK YOU FOR DRAWING THAT AFTER I POINTED IT OUT IN >>5999326

Speaking of...
>>6003335
>whoever in the previous thread said they could read one of my scenes and picture it in their mind as a comic page
That's ME, you nigger! I have no comic book or /co/ background, so I cannot put slurs or similar insult terms they have for fantastic races in DC stuff because I don't know any. Alas.
>that is a great flattery and I thank you
You're welcome and thank (You) for running this quest without being QM Curse'd
>>
>>6004411
Holy fucking shit, Anon. I don't even know what to say, absolutely amazing. Thank you
>>
>>6004329
>"That doesn't mean we shouldn't give him any reason not to walk into a trap of our own."
>You place a hand on the silver handle to the backseat and Kimble grins.
>"This is gonna piss him off."
I want to say how I love we're making up for the communication fuckup with Kimble. That Mark played it so genuine and straight in the moment only lends credence to the ruse after. Kimble took his failure to get the message across pretty hard (and Mark thinking he'd actually give Dent up is a failure of trust to boot, but can you blame us with the way GCPD is?) plus he might have had more faith in Mark catching on than he expected himself to, which I can't blame Kimble for. But we're making some serious lemonade out of these lemons aren't we
>>
>>6004512
I can imagine the three of them snickering like school kids despite the seriousness of the situation as the madman rages.
>>
>>6004521
I want to apologize to Kimble once this blows over and we have all-clear. All of us anons fucking fell for it instead of trusting Kimble and picking up the subtlety, and so did Mark. Kimble deserves better than this shit even though we're improvising. He's feeling a bit better now that we're still alive and putting distance between us and Firebug, but I bet this will bother the guy after all this unless we talk about it.

But was it still a good thing? Could Firebug have seen through it if we did obey Kimble's ruse? With how staunch Mark Banks and Kimble were protecting Dent back in the first encounter outside the museum, Firebug might have questioned the out-of-character moment and connected the dots with Kimble's lines. I believe this guy is smart and perceptive enough to do that in that scenario, and then we'd be screwed as he turns that flamethrower on us with no reason to hold back. Right now his anger is clouding his judgement, and we need to maintain the ruse for it.

What do you think?
>>
>>6004537
Apologise certainly but its not quite as bad as really thinking he'd abandon Dent. I certainly didnt think so. I actually thought it was a ruse from him to make Firebug drop his guard further, allowing us to quickdraw and magdump into him quickly.

And yes, firebug would have quickly seen through the ruse for lack for screaming Dent in the car when it goes up. But at that point I guess his plan would have been for us to hoof it and make tracks. We wouldnt have gotten far before he figured it out but he might also have been mad enough to come after us.
>>
>>6004537
>>6004546
I don't think there's a need for big apology, Mark can just admit with a degree of humor that without shivers he's bad at picking up subtle hints.
>>
>>6004411
+1 and holy shit that's awesome anon
>>
>>6004346
>>6004363
>>6004405
>>6004407
>>6004411
>>6004413
>>6004572

I'll be a little late getting home so the update will come in about an hour(ish). I plan on running until 11am EST to get two posts out though.

We are locked in for Everything but the Kitchen Sink. See you guys in a bit.

>>6004537
>>6004546
>>6004558
Noted, by the way.

>>6004475
The curse has grazed me but I am still going strong, September is actually the one year mark, if the story ends up making it that long, so I'm curious to see where we are when that rolls around.
>>
"We're heading down main street now, have the SWAT set up at the end, if he's in the air when we get to them it'll be like shooting skeet." You jerk your head to the others and start a light jog down the street as the rumbling of the turbine pack raises in volume. "Call for helicopters too, if he's flying we'll need a way to track him. Also some fire trucks, water cannons are probably gonna be necessary, does SWAT have armor piercing rounds?"

Your rambling is cut short by Kimble pulling the radio from your hands.
"Gray. Pull out all the stops, tell SWAT that I said it's a 5150, Code N. Name drop me."

"10-4, I'll see if any Pole jocks are feeling brave, Helicopter is taking off from Precinct 3 and should be there in ten."

"Copy, tell on-scene to keep an eye upwards."

He stuffs the radio into a pocket and gives you an apologetic glance.
"Sorry, boot, I'll give you a lesson on radio etiquette after this." He shifts a glance between you and Banks. "How's your cardio?"

"As good as it can be for being in the hospital for a few weeks."

He nods and looks over to you.

"Yours?"

"I stay in shape but I'm also fresh out of the hospital." You say sheepishly.

Kimble claps his hands and sighs contemplatively before the sound of highly focused and directed fire breaks his concentration.
"Fuck it. Keep up."

He turns on a heel and sets off at a decent pace down the street. You and Banks barely exchange a panicked glance before sprinting off after him. For a man so stocky Kimble is surprisingly speedy, keeping a decent length ahead of Banks and yourself. The whole time throwing out words of encouragement between breaths.

"It's just....until the end....of the street." He puffs. His head angles upwards and he swallows hard. "Don't turn around, just fucking run." He forces out in one breath before turning back forward and putting his head down.

You can't help your own morbid curiosity as you swivel your head to peek over your shoulder.

Outlined against the pale grey clouds of Gotham city is a winged beast of fire and black smoke. You blink and see...yourself through red tinted goggles, your breath hot and heavy as it leaves streaks of spittle running down the glass, all over your body you feel a gentle cooling breeze. As the visage of yourself begins to grow larger you blink again; this time watching the approaching shadow, the feeling of something long and rigid being shoved into your ribs keeps you focused. Banks continues moving using his shotgun to force you forward. You shake your head and he hollers over the noise.
"No spacing out!" you nod and continue unaided. You glance down the street and it feels as if no progress has been made despite you having started your run nearly two minutes ago.
>>
The further you get down the road, the further SWAT seems, and the closer Firebug seems to get. As the sounds of thrusters grow closer and closer you're sure that any moment now you'll be bathed in chemical fire. Your breathing falls out of sync and you swear you can feel the growing heat of his turbine pack on the back of your neck but you don't dare to look and sacrifice any more of the lead you've been given. But the lead my not have been enough, any moment now you're going to fry. That final thought feels different, inserted, like the one you felt in the alleyway of the Prank Shop. But it lingers, and it tells you: you're dead.

Any second now...

>Throw yourself backwards and curl up. If he's aiming for you, reversing your direction and his acceleration will lead him straight past you.
>Ignore the feelings of fright and charge ahead, let your fear power your legs.
>Break into a zigzag, if he does want to fire at you then you won't make it easy, this will gas you out quickly but it's better than being burnt to a crisp.
>Ignore the feelings, this is Shivers or the Tumor or something else messing with you. Just keep your same pace and you'll make it.
>Call out for Banks and Kimble, if he's lining up a shot on you then he may just be flying steady enough to catch another shot himself.
>Write-In
>>
>>6005653
>Ignore the feelings of fright and charge ahead, let your fear power your legs.
Nowhere to go but the end of the street. The quicker we do that, the quicker he takes his eyes off us.
>>
>>6005653
>Ignore the feelings of fright and charge ahead, let your fear power your legs.

No hesitation now, keep going!
>>
>>6005653
>Ignore the feelings of fright and charge ahead, let your fear power your legs.
Maximum adrenaline. Push past your limits even if it tears up your muscles. No time to slow.
>>
>>6005653
>Ignore the feelings of fright and charge ahead, let your fear power your legs.
Go go go!
>>
Rolled 82, 47, 3, 88, 11, 8 = 239 (6d100)

>>6005657
>>6005691
>>6005694
>>6005710

>Please give me 3d100 for dead sprinting. Middle of 3 due to average for an officer stamina.

I'll be rolling for Banks and Kimble but keeping their (Blank) of Three status to myself.
>>
Rolled 71, 29, 59 = 159 (3d100)

>>6005737
>2 rolls each 80+
>2 rolls each -10
Hoo boy, this'll be tense
>>
Rolled 89, 98, 1 = 188 (3d100)

>>6005737
>>
Rolled 75, 23, 93 = 191 (3d100)

>>6005737
Here's hoping the nat 1 doesn't turbofuck us.
>>
>>6005739
>>6005742
>>6005749

I meant to say 3 1d100 rolls (long night) but I can just take the first roll off each of you for a Middle of 75. Turbofucking has been postponed.
>>
ROLLS:

MARK - Mo3 - 75
DC: 55
RESULT: PASS

BANKS - Mo3 - 47
DC: 45
RESULT: PASS

KIMBLE - Bo3 - 88
DC: 45
RESULT: PASS

Writing, then it's off to bed for me.
>>
>>6005753
I am so very joyful
>>6005756
VERY joyful
>>
Rolled 27, 78, 83 = 188 (3d100)

The more you think about it. The less you want to. The doctor, Shivers, your own self monologue. It keeps piling in your head like clutter, distracting you from the reality of your situation. The reality that you need to worry only about running.

You feel your thighs begin to burn as you pump your arms rapidly, you feel your limbs slipping into the form taught at the academy, the exact method they drilled into you every day you spent there. You stop thinking and just let your body do the work you engrained in it, no thoughts just the focus on your ragged breath which you wrangle back into submission, your side forms a pinpoint of tight pain. You pass by Banks who's struggling in his own right with the added weight of his weapon, but you don't slow down, the growing pain in your side is only an issue of endurance. Right now you need speed.

A wild spray of burning globs raining around you give that sentiment even more credence. As you hear a spluttering and sucking noise from above, with it come baseball sized balls of burning fuel. Instead of the smooth whoosh of his flamethrower now sounds like someone finishing a drink through a straw. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth, as splatterings of chemical fire land to your sides it's only candle sized flames that manage to get into your path. Ahead of you Kimble whips off his hat and chucks it away as a hand sized layer of fire seeps over it. You grit your teeth and push harder, your calves feel swollen and tight from top to bottom, each breath surges the sharp pain now engulfing your stomach and ribs. But as you reach the end of the street and turn the only corner you see something that makes you forget all of the pain.

Two black tactical vans and a long fire engine, wide yellow hose connected to a nearby hydrant.

You smile through your sharp breath and put your head down and focus only on the end of the road. You feel a heat creeping along your arm and see a thin line of flame melting down the fabric, you pull the chest hard enough to break the buttons and cast it aside.

It's so close.

>roll me 1d100. I will be taking best of three.
>>
Rolled 67 (1d100)

>>6005774
RUN NIGGA
>>
Rolled 77 (1d100)

>>6005774
>>
Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>6005774
https://youtube.com/watch?v=fjHGTeTtaac
>>
>>6005787
noice
>>
>>6003434
Just catching up now. Shit, I didn't even consider that Kble might be running a con.

>>6004411
Badass art!

>>6004475
>fantastical slurs
There's always 'troq', but don't say it around Starfire or Nightwing.

>>6005787
Hell yeah.
>>
You think if we help put this guy behind bars, the chief’ll reimburse us for our dress uniforms?
>>
>>6006005
Better chance of your injury being service related in the VA assessment.
>>
>>6005776 - 67
>>6005778 - 77
>>6005787 - 95
Best of Three.

ROLL: 95
DC: 78 (Contested roll against Firebug)
RESULT: PASS!

Writing.
>>
The smoldering Dress Jacket flutter aside into a smoking pile, you wave a hand desperately to the group ahead you see them waving back. Distantly you hear sound.

".... you!"

You don't waste breath on responding you just focus on pushing your cramped legs to their limits as you set off in a dead sprint for the line. Banks matches your pace, holding the shotgun only in one hand now as you both pant and huff. Ahead of you Kimble maintains his pace he had from the start, when you get out of this you need to ask for his routine. The words come more clearly, now you start to make out faces as you reach the end of the street.

"Why...Why aren't they shooting?" Banks gets out between ragged gasps. It doesn't take you long to realize the only reason they'd hold their fire was if shooting at Firebug was more dangerous than letting him get close. A cold realization grips you and the first coherent set of words reach your ears.

"RIGHT ABOVE YOU! RUN!" A female voice calls from the top of the fire truck.

Banks and yourself share a glance upwards and you find yourself staring down the barrel of Firebug's flamethrower, droplets of burning fuel drip from the end. He flies unsteadily and he wields the thrower with a single hand, his free hand grips a tube tightly. You narrow your eyes and Banks screams it out before you fully realize it.

"He's building pressure!"

You raise your eyebrows as you stare into a circle of tiny dancing orange dots. The sound of the jet is deafening but you swear in the back of your mind you hear a sound similar to old gas stoves.

click click click click....FWOOSH.

His hand goes loose as the built up fuel rushes into the waiting pilot lights, a geyser of fuel sprays forth dropping a pillar of fire on you from above, aided by gravity it's almost too fast to avoid. Almost.

You juke to the right and the fire follows, casting a wide arc across the road and leaving a wall of flame behind your heels. Banks veers left and continues down the street. His pressure can't last that long and at his speed now as long as you don't slow down the fire can't catch you. But a single slip, stumble, or hesitation means baptism in fire. You push, adrenaline flooding every cell, a new noise rises with the sound of the turbines and aerosolized fuel. Your own voice. Plowing ahead driven by primal instinct and girt you scream as you push yourself further than you thought possible. Every step brings new details to your eyes.

The lettering on SWAT trucks, the department number on the fire truck, the face of the woman who called to your earlier. Recognition sparks but your conscious mind is on vacation as you drive the final dozen feet you hear the familiar sputtering of Firebug's thrower losing pressure, and once again small blobs of fuel fall like burning snow. Your legs seize up and you find the ground rising to meet you rapidly, you take the fall as best you can and roll onto your back. You lift your chin and squeeze your eyes closed tight.
>>
Just before they close you see his figure in the sky, cloaked in smog and smoke, lean back and begin slowing. He's going to try to run. Your burning lungs force out the last of your air to scream a message to the people behind you.

>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
>"SHOOT HIM DOWN!"
>"GET THE HELICOPTERS!"
>Write-In
>>
>>6006650
>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
>>
>>6006650
>>"SHOOT HIM DOWN!"
>>
>>6006650
>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
He better not blow himself up. Remember Kimble's bit about the IEDs
>For all we know that suit has IED's set to blow if he goes dark.
>>
>>6006650
>>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
>>
>>6006650
>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
>>
>>6006650
>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
>>
>>6006650
>nobody’s taken the opportunity to become the 69th reply

Guess I’ll take it, then…

>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
>>
>>6006650
>"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"
Oh neat, it'a that EMT from tge cop bar! Was hoping we'd see her again.
>>
>>6007016
We gotta get this girl’s number this time around.

Even if Mark has the burn pit special in his head, he deserves something nice after all this.
>>
>>6007282
>covered in soot and slightly singed hitting on a firefighter
It's more common than we think.
>>
>>6007282
Not like you gotta' let everyone know about your tumor when you start casually dating them.
>>
>>6007282
Eh, I’m hoping to get some strange from the Rogue’s Gallery. Kinda thinking some Lawful Good dickings might be a fun way to try to curb Gotham’s recidivism rate.
>>
>>6007310
Ah yes, more meta-based relationship trauma. Exactly what Mark needs.
>>
>>6007319
I for one welcome Ivy just straight killing us because she's a psycho eco terrorist. Or Killer Frost freezing our dick off because she's a psychopath. Or Livewire turning us into charred turkey because you can't stick your dick into an electrical outlet goddammit.
>>
>>6007282
Given the circumstances, I can totally see Mark trying something he otherwise wouldn't. When your days are numbered, you might as well make em good ones.
>>
>>6007319
Way I see it, Mark’s gonna have to deal with the meta side eventually if he wants to have both his police job and his shivers. Might as well see if there’s a vigilante type who can respect our decision to go out into the fray instead of behind a desk. Plus, Bats is well known for plenty of relationships with attractive antiheroes of the other sex, enough to convince them to go legit.

Besides, there’s one or two villainesses out there who use tech and athleticism instead of powers. The Defacer, maybe? She’d be great with Caesar’s deaf pal.
>>
>>6007342
Me personally, I'm all for hitting up Allison again and seeing what's good. If we're putting the cart ahead of the horse for a minute, I think she'd be more than understanding of the circumstances of Mark's work given she's in a similarly dangerous field.
>>
>>6007342
>Mark’s gonna have to deal with the meta side eventually
Not if he just dies, I guess.
>>
>>6007676
>men would literally rather die than go to (chemo) therapy
>>
>>6007342
>Might as well see if there’s a vigilante type who can respect our decision to go out into the fray instead of behind a desk.

My brother in Christ you just described Nia. No way in hell is Mark stepping on that 3rd rail again.
>>
>>6007873
…But she didn’t respect it? Pretty sure I remember that she wanted him to take a more passive role as an Oracle type.
>>
Hey guys, apologies but I'm gonna push the next update until tonight.

Until then though I would love to hear:
>What part of the story intrigues you the most?

Is it the SIM mystery? The strange visions Mark receives? Or do you just like reading Cop banter? Let me know and I'll be back tonight to..
>>6006652
>>6006700
>>6006712
>>6006713
>>6006734
>>6006990
>>6007016

BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!

I also knew it was only a matter of time until the waifu talks began lol
>>
>>6007884
Oh, and never mentioning that she was a meta to us until we saw the leotard in the hamper. That’s a big, big thing. Which we should have to get out of the way immediately if we do pursue Allison to not be a hypocrite, along with the tumor.
>>
>>6007892
I like the SIM mystery, foils are my weaknesses.
>>
>>6007892
The street to city level crime stuff, definitely. While I do want to eventually get into the bigger bits of the DC universe, I’d like to imagine an epilogue that has Mark either going back to detective work, or if the tumor gets us in the end, taking the job over from the current spiritual representation of Gotham City and helping out a newly minted Shiver Meta with taking down crime.
>>
>>6007884
The offer for a role in the Justice League only came after the combat with Firebug. It could have just been her giving Mark a “safer” job to ease her own nerves on the situation.

If I remember right she supported Mark becoming a cop through college and wanted to keep all of the meta shenanigans away from him. I guess she just didn’t put it together at the time that cops get shot at.
>>
>>6007927
I think she admitted last time she invaded Mark's dreams that she never wanted him to be a cop and pretty much always planned to try and get him into a passive role in the JLA.
>>
>>6007892

"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!" You holler, your throat going raw and scratchy from the haggard breaths.

What you hear next is a massive sputtering and the sound of rain hitting a car roof amplified a few times over. From the ground you're misted aggressively as a white rushing jet of water fires far above your head and slams into Firebug like a liquid linebacker. You feel a great pressure in your stomach and struggle to catch your own breath as you watch his winged form spiral backwards, his jets struggling against the pure amount of water that's colliding with him and seeping into every bit of his equipment.

His body falls from the air, a tangled mess of dark suit and white displaced water, his limbs flail as he pumps more and more power into his jets only to collide with the ground. The water slows to a stream and then a dribble and in the haze and mist you see rainbows forming up the street. He lies there completely still apart from his hand which only opens and closes slowly. A low groaning coming from him means he isn't dead but as you rise from your own prone position you stay vigilant.

A rush of footsteps behind you make you whip around only to be passed completely by SWAT, rifles at the ready, and a group of Firefighters who also rush up throwing a towel over your damp body. A hand grips your shoulder firmly and you turn your head to see a familiar face.

"I thought I recognized your voice." You say with a relieved smile. "Thanks for the save."

Allison smiles back nods.
"Don't thank me too soon, the water in those city pipes is...questionable."

You look down and do notice your white shirt is a shade more brown than before in it's damp spots.
"Oh. Well it's better than the alternative."

"You'll still probably want to shower." She laughs to herself.

You both look at each other for a moment before another sound draws your attention. A long drawn out scream of pure rage.

"HARVEY!" Firebug roars.

You approach with Allison, making sure to keep her behind you and to keep a hand on your pistol. SWAT stands a safe distance away, posted behind cars on either side of the road. For the first time you get a clear look at Firebug after his fall and it isn't pretty. His right leg is contorted and backwards at an odd angle, spiderweb cracks run along his goggles, and the breathing from his mask comes out crackling from the water logging it just endured. His thrower lies a few feet from him only tethered by the fuel line, it's pilot light long since extinguished. He groans and squirms but his leg prevents him from going more than a few inches, he screams constantly with any movements until he eventually gives in and just lies down on the asphalt, his crackling breath going steady.

You see Kimble approach from down the street with a blanket of his in hand as he dabs the sweat from his head, he beelines for the SWAT line and begins talking quietly with the commander.
>>
You turn to Allison and open your mouth but she holds up a hand preemptively.

"I'll get back to the truck, might need that hose again."

You close your mouth and just nod, she gives you a smile and steps backwards back to her squadron. You wipe your face with the rough blanket and are surprised to feel how warm it is despite the water dripping down constantly.

You approach Kimble and his SWAT contact as they speak into a radio.

"What's the situation? Why aren't we taking him in?"

"Because it may not even be an option. Your TO is telling me he may be rigged?" A gruff man whispers to you firmly.

"We don't know. He's former military and we've run into IED's from him before but we don't know anything about his suit."

"Well then we need to wait for bomb squad."

"I'm telling you, Hall. That isn't gonna fly. This guy is dedicated to getting to Dent, if we wait here for him to dry out then he'll be turning that flamethrower on us before they get approval to even come out."

"Then we shoot him." Hall replies confidently.

"And set off the incendiary you think could be in his suit?" You ask, more than a little shocked at the attitude of a SWAT commander.

"My job is not to take risks until I'm forced too, son. If he's set to blow then we hold position and wait for the bomb squad. If he wants to get frisky before then I have about 30 reasons it won't work in his favor and if he's smart he'll recognize that."

"Hall you aren't hearing me, he's not thinking right especially after taking a drop like that. We can bring him in, he could bust our case."

"Your case isn't my responsibility, Kimble. It's the lives of my men and you KNOW that. So unless you have a solution, this is my show now. You're dismissed."

Kimble opens his mouth to protest again but a sharp look from Hall makes him grit his teeth.
"Yeah. Alright." He manages to get out before turning and nudging your shoulder. "Let's go, DeLucia. This isn't our scene."

You look to Firebug and watch as he slowly flexes his fingers, one by one methodically, before starting to slowly open and close his fist. Testing his mobility.

>"What if I could get him out of the suit? Let me talk with him, I've talked him down before."
>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."
>"Yes, Sir."
>"Is this why Hawthorne left SWAT? Too cowardly to approach a man with a broken leg and no weapon?"
>Write-In
>>
>>6008905
>"What if I could get him out of the suit? Let me talk with him, I've talked him down before."
>>
>>6008905
>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."
We have supernatural brain cancer anyways. Besides I neither want to risk the SWAT guys lives or let them just put the poor bastard down. And I can't imagine he's in the mood for diplomacy.
>>
>>6008905
>>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."
>>
>>6008905
>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."

If for no other reason than to make Mark look really cool in front of Allison.

That and I CANNOT stomach the idea of this goober getting away again.
>>
>>6008905
>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."
Man SWAT kinda suck here
>>
>>6008994
TBF swat in gotham will get called on everything from Joker to Bane. I cant fault them for trying to keep their guys alive when their turnover must be pretty high compared to other cities.
>>
>>6008905
>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."
>>
>>6008905
>>"Is this why Hawthorne left SWAT? Too cowardly to approach a man with a broken leg and no weapon?"
>>
>>6008905
>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."
We have a tumor anyway. Not a lot to lose, maybe. Also, we have Shivers, which we can try to use here.
>>
>>6008905
>>"I'll do it. Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can check him over before we take him in."
you only live once right
>>
>>6010530
>laughs in the hero dying and reviving of the week
>>
>>6008915
>>6008950
>>6008989
>>6008994
>>6009045
>>6010506
>>6010530

"I'll do it, Give me the cuffs, I'll put em on myself, bomb squad can still take a look at him before we take him in." You say quietly, casting glances at Firebug as he now slowly lifts and lowers his forearm.

"Is this guy serious?" Hall asks Kimble. Kimble replies with an exasperated sigh and a shrug.

"Look, I don't want to risk your men either. But right now he is still dazed enough that we could at least stop him from hurting anyone else during the wait.

Hall scoffs and turns his head from you, not even humoring you with a response. This isn't working, you need to step it up.

You step closer and lower your voice but increase the intensity of your words.
"This guy has already gotten away from us once. We JUST pulled off a sting that took weeks of prep work and only just barely, the thought of him getting away AGAIN makes me sick to my stomach."

Kimble picks up on your words and leans into your hardball approach.
"Hall, think about it. The Mayor makes a speech about how Gotham is finally getting safer, then he's attacked, and then our SWAT team lets him get away because they needed to be sure he wouldn't set himself on fire? This is gonna embarrass your entire unit and when it comes time for Dent to finalize his restructuring of GCPD, who's to say the guys who let his assassin have a chance at taking a third round with him won't be on the chopping block first?"

Hall looks into Kimble's eyes with a hardened glare, he shifts them to you but you've long since become accustomed to such a gaze. He sucks his teeth and shakes his head.

"You really found someone just like you Kimble."

"Not really, sir. He's the brains."

"And you trust him on this? It's his ass if anything goes wrong."

Kimble looks to you and it's almost like you can see it reflected in his eyes. All of your interactions flashing by in a moment like a slideshow on fast forward. In your own head you can even hear yourself. You don't let your expression show it but inside you're a little worried, Shivers has never done anything like this before. It culminates with Kimble giving a firm nod.
"Yeah, I trust him. It's why I'm going in too."

You open your mouth to protest but he speaks over you.
"I have a spare set of cuffs, getting his hands and feet will be better overall, I'm sure this guy isn't in the cooperating mood after dropping like a sack of shit."

Hall shakes his head.
"If anyone ever asks then, you rushed in before I established chain of command. This makes us square, Kimble."

Kimble extends a hand and has it clasped tightly.
"Yes, it does. Thank you, Sir."

"For what, Officer Kimble? I just arrived." Hall replies sarcastically before turning away and leaning into his shoulder radio.

Kimble doesn't wait for you before setting off towards Firebug at a brisk jog, you sigh and force yourself to ignore the sharp pains in your leg as you join him.
>>
You both approach the pile of man that lies in the center of the street, small puddles of burning fire still surround the area and you see a small stream of liquid leaking from his back, around the hose Banks must have nicked. Kimble pulls out a set of cuffs from his pocket, probably off of a security guard from the event, you dig into the borrowed duty belt and withdraw your own pair. As you both approach you hear muffled groans and words.

"...assholes, you think? You think this means I'm not gonna get at Dent?"

Kimble looks at you sideways and begins taking a wide circle around Firebug until he's positioned behind him.

"Look at you two...fucking puppets. Lap dogs."

Kimble looks at you and nods, you don't need to speak to understand his plan.

You both walk in quickly with cuffs open and grab him. Kimble grabs both ankles and yanks his legs straight, causing a cacophony of agonized screams as, you can only assume, whatever break he has gets worse. You have to put a little elbow grease into keeping his arms restrained, the entire time you make sure to kneel with your knee clamping down the hose of his Flamethrower, you can feel him slowly regaining his strength and trying to fight back but in his current condition he's not strong enough to push you away before Kimble slaps both ankles in chrome and moves to help you.

"I'll kill you, all three of you. I'll remember your fucking faces and burn your homes to the ground!" He roars from inside the helmet, leading to a harsh hacking cough that continues as the strength in his arms fade. He wheezes for breath as Kimble helps you flip him to his stomach. You take your cuffs and go to slap them on.

>Just get the cuffs on and run, he's furious right now and if he has any way of striking back he will. Better be safe.
>Cuff him and get that mask off, you can only imagine how hard it is to breath for him right now, there's no reason to be cruel you've already won.
>Cuff him and get the suit off, this suit could very well be a weapon. You know Kimble always carries a blade, maybe you can cut it off?
>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
>Write-In
>>
>>6010800
>Just get the cuffs on and run, he's furious right now and if he has any way of striking back he will. Better be safe.
>>
>>6010800
>Just get the cuffs on and run, he's furious right now and if he has any way of striking back he will. Better be safe.
We have no business continuing with this guy other than the IEDs and his connection to Calc
>>
>>6010800
>>Just get the cuffs on and run, he's furious right now and if he has any way of striking back he will. Better be safe.
>>
>>6010800
>>Just get the cuffs on and run, he's furious right now and if he has any way of striking back he will. Better be safe.

We’ve pushed our luck enough already.
>>
>>6010800
>>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
>>
>>6010800
>>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
>>
>>6010800
>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
>>
>>6010906
We're in a comic book. If there's a time to have a comic book talking moment, this is it.

Practically its a retarded idea.

Comic wise, this is the best chance to be a "great cop".

In his hate, he didn't realize Dent was long gone. He may want us dead, but we don't want him dead. Also we can straight up tell him we were not the one on that stage today, and that's for a reason. We're not a lapdog looking for rewards.

If Dent is dirty, he's going down just like anyone else as far as we're concerned.
>>
>>6010800
>>6010829
>>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
Awwwww fuck it, changing to this. There's really no reason not to ask him a few questions at this point.
>>
>>6010800
Changing vote from >>6010830 to
>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
What >>6010976 said
>>
>>6010800
>>Just get the cuffs on and run, he's furious right now and if he has any way of striking back he will. Better be safe.
>>
>>6010800
>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
>>
>>6010800
>>>Cuff him and speak to him, this will probably be the only time you'll be able to meaningfully interrogate this guy, once he's booked ARGUS could pick it up or Dent could assign his own investigator.
>>
>>6010918
>>6010949
>>6010975
>>6010977
>>6010992
>>6011058
>>6011830

You click the cuffs and haul his wriggling body until he's facing you.

"I have questions." You start before a hand hits your shoulder.

"Are you insane? We've pushed our luck enough." Kimble tells you with serious look.

"Normally I'd agree but Dent isn't going to want this guy to talk to anyone. Odds are he passes him off to ARGUS or ships him straight to Arkham."

Firebug thrashes and spits through his mask.
"I bet you'd like that, pig. A commendation on your chest and a pet on the head for keeping Daddy Dent's dirty laundry a secret."

Kimble's hand pulls off your shoulder and you see it now, from that sentence alone, his curiosity is piqued.
"Dent's dirty laundry? What are you talking about, Bug?"

"Ask your friend."

Kimble's eyes turn to you but you stay focused on the moment at hand.
"Hey. You notice how I was the only one out of those three who wasn't on that stage today?"

"What about it, sad you didn't get your treat?"

"Are you listening to yourself? Look past how bad you hate Dent for a second and think. If I was Dent's lackey I'd have been first in line, but you know I know the truth."

"The truth?" Kimble echoes confused, but he maintains his silence otherwise.

Firebug stops his fidgeting in your hands and his breathing slows until it becomes a raspy laugh.
"He fucked you too..ha...haha...old habits die hard, Harvard."

"I didn't play ball with him when he tried to buy my silence, Kimble and Banks? They had no idea, far as they knew this was nothing more but a dog and pony show."

"Congratulations, Officer. You knew he was a sack of shit and saved him anyways."

"Yeah he's an asshole but I need to know if there's more to it than that."

Kimble finally chimes in.
"Are you saying Dent might be dirty?"

"As an afghan latrine." Firebug says, he finally seems somewhat calm.

Distant sirens screaming draw your attention and Kimble mutters a curse.

"Bomb Squad." He tells you.

If you're going to ask questions now is the time.

[You get two questions before you'll have to fall back to the SWAT line.]

>What is Calc planning?
>Why is Calc targeting Dent?
>Why is Calc targeting Bruce Wayne?
>Do you have any evidence on Dent being dirty? Something actionable.
>Write-In Question (Recommended)
>>
>>6011866
>Do you have any evidence on Dent being dirty? Something actionable.
FUCK DENT, I HATE DENT, LET'S RUIN HIS LIFE.
>Cobblepot and Mandragora were working with Calc, are there any other big names working with him?
>>
>>6011883
+1
We need leads on Calc too. He's got so much freedom now with the sting succeeded
>>
>>6011866
>>6011883
+1, because I'm a little lost on the big plotline, and this seems reasonable.

Firebug builds the IEDs for Calc, right? The black boxes? And is also trying to kill Dent on the side, but not for Calc, for a persinal grudge. So if we signal to him that we can dig into Dent he could maybe rat out Calc?
>>
>>6011883
+1

Let’s put a dent in Dent’s ego.
>>
>>6011883
+1, coin flipping dent
>>
>>6011901
Even if we don't use the info against Dent, baiting Firebug to talk and drop facts on Calc is a big step forward against the mysteries going on. But what I'm wondering is what will SIM do now that Mandragora is arrested?
>>
>>6011866
>Why is Calc targeting Dent?
>Do you have any evidence on Dent being dirty? Something actionable.
>>
>>6011883
Our power is talking to the city right?

Simply knowing a location and having a piece of evidence can let us do a lot more than the average person

Our power is a matter of public record.

Might be good to ask him if he has something we can work with that way.

Also in other news, where's batman atm?
>>
>>6011866
Write in question being recommended makes me wonder what I'm missing here

There has to be something firebug could be in the know of.

Dunno if Calc is targeting Dent. It's probably Bruce Wayne if he's not providing additional support to firebug.

The nature of the buildings being bought? The plan to "go legit" with real estate for crime bosses?
What's missing that's relevant? Man should have nothing to do with SIM.

We could try holding his hand and deep diving his connection with the city?
>>
>>6012116
I guess we can ask him to take off his suit and ride in our car before bomb squad and dents people have an excuse to separate us.

We did make the extra effort to had over here vs letting swat take him. There's a reason for that.


Maybe he has an idea who the mole is??
>>
>>6011883
supporting
>>
>>6011866
>Do you have any evidence on Dent being dirty? Something actionable.
>What is Calc planning?
>>
Very sorry guys, bad morning. Postponing the update to tonight, please feel free to continue suggesting things for the questioning.
>>
>>6013045
Thanks for the heads up, QM. Take your time, we'll be here!
>>
Finally fucking caught up.
This is some really good shit.
>>
>>6011883
>>6011899
>>6011901
>>6011926
>>6011929
>>6012192

"Dent, you say he's dirty but I need proof. Do you have any evidence, anything actionable?"

You hear a broken scoff through the helmet's speaker.
"You know for yourself what he did to me, to my family, aren't the police supposed to look into that shit? You want evidence? You want to lock him up? Then go find it, because I don't want Harvey in a cell. I want him in the ground."

"What the fuck did Harvey do to this guy, DeLucia?" Kimble asks, his eyebrows drawn tightly in confusion.

"I'll tell you later." You rush over your shoulder before turning back. The red and blue lights shining off the windows down the street mean your time is up. "Cobblepot and Mandragora were working with Calc, who else does he have? What big names did you hear?"

A raspy laugh comes out.
"I keep to myself, always have. This wasn't a social club, Met-Brain, everyone was there because they wanted something and Calc promised he could help them get it. Guess in my case he bit off a little more than he could chew."

You shake your head and give him a rattle, he groans in response.
"You have to have heard something. Anything. If we clear this Calc business up then Harvey can be next." You pull him close and whisper into the side of his mask. "And how long is a former prosecutor going to last on the inside? Think about it."

A few moments of silence pass. The sirens grow louder, you start to feel their sharp notes probe your eardrum. A hand on your shoulder gives you the signal from Kimble. Time's up. Frustrated you let Firebug go and begin to rise, only to freeze when you hear the speaker of his mask crackle to life.
"Jervis. Anarky wants Wayne and I was promised Dent. But Calc would talk about someone named Jervis, that Arkham break-out was for him. Not the medic."

You freeze as your brain goes into analyzing his words trying to put together this pile of new pieces presented to it. Kimble pulls your by your collar away from Firebug who calls after you in that same static filled rasp.
"Do your job, Officer. Put Dent away."

You and Kimble get away from him by the time the trucks come speeding in, you shuffle off to a curb and both drop down, Kimble quietly contemplating something and you in your own head mulling over this new information.
>>
Your train of thought and the silence between you is broken by Kimble quietly asking you a question.

"Do you not trust me?"

"Sorry?"

"I asked if you trust me or not."

"Of course I trust you, Kimble. Is this because of what Firebug said?"

He shakes his head and scoffs.
"More than that. You really thought I was willing to let Dent burn. You wouldn't have taken that wild shot at him if you didn't think so."

"What? No it was just, you know maybe I'm only good at reading people when I'm using my Shivers." You chuckle but Kimble's face remains melancholy. "Hey, I'm sorry. I had a really fucked morning and it's just messed with my head a little bit is all. I wasn't all there this morning."

"Seemed fine after the fact, playing off like Dent was really in the car. So I guess it doesn't matter all that much. But what does matter is that you never told me you knew Dent had a history with this guy. You never mentioned to me that Dent might be dirty or that he was playing hardball with you, none of that."

You go to answer but there isn't really anything to say, at least that you can think of.

"You come back to the station after a day out with Hawthorne and you can draw maps with your mind? Hawthorne and Gray don't bat an eye but I feel like the odd man out. So is it trust?"

>How do you respond?
>>
>>6013320
Thanks for the kind words, Anon. Hope you continue to enjoy.
>>
>>6013709
>"It's me dropping the ball is what it is. You should be kept in the loop, same as Gray, Hawthorne, or anybody I work with. I'm sorry I didn't live up to that standard, but I'm gonna try moving forward."
>>
>>6013680
>Jervis Tetch: Mad Hatter
Ah fuck. That guy's technology always bodes ill, despite what a goofy little shit he is.

>>6013709
>"I get self-conscious about my abilities, even now. They're a sore spot and it's tough to let people in about them."
>"As for Dent, I didn't want to drag anyone else's career down with mine, fi he made it a whole 'thing'."
>"But about thinking you'd let Dent burn... That was me being untrusting. And It was wrong of me. I was being an idiot, and I get that now. I was wrong, and I promise I'll trust you more moving forward."
>>
>>6013731
+1
>>
>>6013709
>Despite my powers being right most of the time, saying that you seen a guy being durty in a vision in your head is so easily brushed off. We've had more things to worry about when I saw Dent's convo with a firebug, so I shelved the info for the time being.
I don't remember if we even told anyone about this at all. If we didn't, inform him. He's not really left out.
>As for Dent not really being in the car, I think I just went full retard for a moment, sorry. I was thinking more about viable gun calibers for putting him down, than mind games.
>>
>>6013903
Kind of interesting to see that we disarmed a scared guy without starting a firefight back on some gas station(by using shivers and understading how scared he is), but with firebug, most players, including me, didn't even think about playing mind games, just how to kill him.
>>
>>6013959
Because when shit gets real, 99.99% of people aren't going to try and employ mind-games. If anything, it just speaks to Kimbles experience and our relative lack thereof.
>>
>>6013731
>>6013743
>>6013796
>>6013903
>>6013959
>>6013970
We're pretty disorganized on this. What do we go with? Looking back, most of us voting to shoot Firebug were fixed on "protect and serve". We all unilaterally fell for it
>>
>>6014036
Hey man, can you blame an idealistic rookie for acting like one?
>>
>>6014043
Not much idealistic about distrusting Kimble, is there? I think we need a genuine apology plus getting him in the loop on Dent
>>
>>6014044
>Not much idealistic about distrusting Kimble, is there?
That's where the "rookie" part comes in.
>I think we need a genuine apology plus getting him in the loop on Dent
I agree. It might not solve every issue right away, but it's a damn good start.
>>
>>6013709
>All I have on Dent is a vision. No physical evidence and definitely nothing that would give probable cause for an investigation. And that was enough for Dent to start turning the screws on me, just the mere SUSPICION that I might have seen something. If I had told you, or Banks, or Hawthorn, or ANYONE, it would have just gotten you in trouble with nothing to gain.

>So with all of that in mind, do you still want to know?

If yes:
>Then what do you suggest we do about it? Because I’m at a loss here.
>>
>>6014109
>begin by apologizing that you think he was going to let Dent get incinerated

I forgot to add this at the beginning. We need to do some kowtowing here.
>>
>>6014116
>>6014109
These are good, +1
>>
>>6014116
I thought it was just a ruse to drop his guard combined with dent not being there.

If he torched the car, the lack of screaming would clue him in fast

Not sharing the dent situation is more a matter of minimizing fallout. We have only a vision, no evidence. Dent tried threatening us anyway. We only hinted it to Banks, not the details.
>>
>>6013709
>>How do you respond?
"I'm sorry. I *know* that you'd never abandon your charge in something like this. So I thought that it was a ruse. A ruse to get the drop on him.

Dent's issue, I was the only one privy to it and I didnt want anyone else or the department to get dragged down with me. If he has his eye on me, the rest of the dept can do the work the need to do free of any interference. I'll come clean with it all, I promise."
>>
>>6014183
One conspiracy at a time. Banks isn't on sim, or the crime families but he's on dent.

Too many conspiracies and someone might mess up, like we do
>>
Update will be coming at a normal tome tonight (in a few hours) I just really wanted to get that one out yesterday early to repay having to put it off in the first place.

Please continue to vote and post.
>>6014036
Vote swaps are also totally fine if you want to back a specific answer, but I will pull from most if not all write-ins.
>>
>>6013731
>>6013796
>>6013903
>>6014109
>>6014123
>>6014183

"I'm sorry." You start with that up-front. The bluntness of a straight apology makes Kimble's eyebrows raise. "I dropped the ball, thinking you'd let Dent burn was me not trusting you and it was wrong. I was being an idiot, I get that now and I promise I'm going to trust you more going forward, including keeping you in the loop just the same as Hawthorne and Gray."

Kimble digests what you said and nods.
"And about the powers?"

You sigh and feel your cheeks grow warm.
"I get self conscious about my abilities, even now. It can be a sore spot for me and it's hard to let people know about that kinda stuff. I'm used to the looks but it's different when it's strangers vs friends."

Kimble has a shadow of guilt cross his face and he nods.
"I'm sorry if I ever did that to you. I know the feeling, in a way."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, people look at you expecting to see one thing. Knowing one thing. Then you do something or say something and all of a sudden it's.."

"It's like they don't know you anymore." You say.

"like their scared of you." Kimble mutters in unison.

You both look at each other and Kimble coughs awkwardly.
"That just leaves Dent. His history with that guy."

"I saw something when we first ran into Firebug, one of my visions, but it wasn't about something happening in Gotham now. It was something that HAD happened."

"Holy shit, like time travel?"

"I guess? But it was more like watching someone's memory in real time, I could even FEEL everything Dent felt. There was an argument between them and Dent threw a bottle, a fire started...it was an accident.."

"Jesus Christ..." Kimble mutters. "You covered up for an arson? With casualties?"

"My power might be right most of the time but seeing a guy had a dirty past in my head is gonna get brushed off by anyone in the courts, come on now."

Kimble scoffs.
"I can hear it now 'Are we admitting dreams into evidence now?' he'd be right at home defending himself....but you're certain?"

"I saw what I saw and Shivers hasn't lied to me yet. I just figured that if I could keep Dent's eye on me instead of the department it would be better for everyone."

"Best tip I ever got, boot? Don't be a martyr. You're in a team so we need to handle this shit as a team. It ain't Dent versus you, not anymore."

Kimble holds out a fist to you.
"As long as you promise to play straight with me. No more secrets. I have your back all the way. Deal?"

>Tap his knuckles with yours. "Deal, no more secrets." (Lie)
>"Some secrets aren't mine to share, Kimble. You just have to trust me."
>"There won't be anymore secrets...after this." (Let him in on the SIM Situation)
>Write-In
>>
>>6015141
>"There won't be anymore secrets...after this." (Let him in on the SIM Situation)
I'm pretty confident that he isn't the mole, it should be safe to let him in on this.
>>
>>6015141
>"There won't be anymore secrets...after this." (Let him in on the SIM Situation)
>>
>>6015141
>"There won't be anymore secrets...after this." (Let him in on the SIM Situation)
We need Hawthorne with us first
>>
>>6015141
>>"Some secrets aren't mine to share, Kimble. You just have to trust me."
>>
>"There won't be anymore secrets...after this." (Let him in on the SIM Situation)

Straight as an arrow. But then again in this universe arrows can go up and down and all around

Finally got the chance to catch up on a car trip. Great quest, filled the void since henchmen quest is on ice.

Rip axis, may that man kneecap people heaven
>>
>>6015141
>"Some secrets aren't mine to share, Kimble. You just have to trust me."

Let him know Banks is slightly in on the know already, but not to what extent.

But yeah, some secrets are for other people to divulge. We can let him in on some SIM stuff, but not everything. Nobody needs to know details of Hawthorne struggles let alone that he almost killed in cold blood
>>
>>6015141
>>6015141
>"Some secrets aren't mine to share, Kimble. You just have to trust me."
Though I'd like to phrase it a bit more diplomatically. "I'll share my own stuff, but I can't spill the beans if someone else asks me not to. Not wothout asking."

But... We should probably also
>Tell him about SIM, and the tumor
Just not Hawthorne, Q, or Huntress just yet.
>>
>>6015141
>"Some secrets aren't mine to share, Kimble. But I'd be glad to share with you my own."
Basically saying "I'm fine with telling you my problems with SIM and the tumor, but other people deserve to be the ones to tell you theirs. Same goes for you. If you have a thing you need to get off your chest, but only for a few people, I'm here to listen if you want me to."
>>
>>6015141
>"Some secrets aren't mine to share, Kimble. But I will share the work and case related ones."
>"Sometimes my power lets me dig through people's heads. Like letting me take a look through Dent's memories in that alleyway standoff. Some of those things are vital to police work, and I'll share them. Some are not."
>Tell him about the SIM.

Hate keeping secrest from teammates, but we somehow ended tangled up in so much shit in just 7 threads. How many plots do we even have going on right now? SIM, Firebug/Dent and Calc? And before the big bust we also had the "Q and Hawthorne vs Mandargora" thread running. Gotham sure never sleeps.

Actually, you guys remember that vision we had while out cold? Some pitiful thing hiding in the closet? What the hell was that even about? Do we tell anyone?
>>
>>6015141
I voted >>6015164 on mobile
I want to add that shit in >>6015474 and >>6015496 and >>6015504 to it
So yes to SIM, yes to tumor, no to Q/Huntress, no to Hawthorne, and no to Mandragora.
>>
>>6015264
>henchman quest is on ice

Nigga it dead. The QM shot himself with a 38.
I guess to some extent it reflected his own desire to die
>>
>>6015816
Are DC quests more or less cursed than other quests do y'all think?
>>
>>6017980
>>6018009
I'm onto you, DetectQM...
>>
>>6018012
Must be a different DetectQM, cause I would never...
>>
>>6015148
>>6015153
>>6015164
>>6015264
>>6015474
>>6015496
>>6015504
>>6015780

"Some secrets aren't mine to tell.." You start nervously. To your surprise Kimble nods his head.

"Hawthorne, Gray, whoever else. I'm not worried about them, I just need to know when it comes to it we trust each other and we're on the same page. I know better than others about how important keeping some secrets can be, if I wanted to hear from them I'd ask."

"Understood." You say softly, your head buzzing and your heart speeding back up. You and Kimble both rise from the sidewalk and begin a long walk down the road you had just sprinted up for a private conversation. A blanket of cold falls over you as you fill Kimble in on everything that's happened to you.

==============

"Fuck, kid." He mutters, his eyes distant and his hand pressed firmly against his forehead. "You've been sitting on all that for almost two months now?"

"Just learned about the tumor this morning actually."

He laughs in disbelief and shakes his head.
"When I first saw you, I won't lie. I thought you were a little soft, figured Hawthorne would wash you out. Instead he ends up joining your black op side project."

"It's really complicated.." You're cut off by a hand.

"A dangerous man backed you into a corner, you figured you could handle it but when things got tough you did the smart thing and got back up." He pauses a few seconds and adds. "Wish I was a first pick, but I get it. Gotta keep it small, op-sec and all that shit." He waves it away but you can tell his being left out still hurt a bit.

"What now?" You ask trying to pull the conversation from a soft spot.

"Well, we get with Hawthorne and Gray and talk what we do next about your problem."

"SIM?"

"Hell yeah, now that I'm involved maybe there can be less theorizing and more action. Guy like this you can't let him stew, he's gonna turn into a whole different kinda beast, with Mandragora being locked up he may just go off reservation and vanish."

"Not likely, he's compelled."

"By Dark Shivers, right?"

"I don't really think we need to name it that.." You chime in.

"Okay. His 'ability' compels him to kill which means we might be facing something even worse."

"Worse?"

"Think about him like a Mad Dog. Mandragora keeps him crated up and only lets him out to indulge a little at a time. Occasionally he slips out, like you brought up, and does it himself. But when the door is wide open.."

"He could go anywhere, do anything, we don't have a central pillar to tie him down anymore."

"He was orbiting Mandragora, like the fat ass planet he is, but without that gravity keeping him in place it'll be a bitch to track him. Your Shivers can't pick up on him then?"

"Last time I tried it went bad, I saw him but couldn't see his face. It was dark with glowing tallys"

"So your Shiver's is tracking HIS kills? Is the count accurate?"

"No idea."

"Have you asked him?"

"What?"
>>
"Don't you have contact with him?"

"Burner phones, mine is in my-" You stop yourself as a realization strikes. "Oh fuck. Where's my car?"

"Impound at the station, we brought it in with everything else so it wouldn't look suspicious."

"The phone is in the glove box, if Mendez goes looking or if it rings and someone else picks it up."

"Yeah I get it, we'll be fucked. Where the fuck is Banks, he has my keys."

"Banks does?"

"I let him drive today, that's the last time I do something nice for someone."

"Hawthorne brought me here from the Hospital, we should head back to the parking lot now that things are contained and see if we can't find him."

"Want me to come with? We could talk about this problem of yours on the drive." He looks over his shoulder and scouts around. "I don't see Banks anywhere, the bastard, I haven't seen him since the cavalry showed up."

You take a look over your shoulder at the wrecked stage and back up the street, pockmarked with black burn spots, before sighing.

>"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct."
>"I'll go with you. Banks disappearing after Firebug went down is odd."
>"Come with me, Hawthorne is old but he's far from frail. If he hasn't shown his head yet something is up."
>Write-In
>>
>>6018344
>"Come with me, Hawthorne is old but he's far from frail. If he hasn't shown his head yet something is up."
>>
>>6018344
>>Write-In
"Does Banks have his phone with him? I can call him and we can find where he is and we can look for Hawthorne once we meet up"
>>
>>6018359
Just to save a little time/votes. I'll let you know Anon that the dress blues have shit for pockets most of the time and cell phones aren't allowed for ceremonies.
>>
>>6018368
>>6018344
well shit guess im changing my vote then from>>6018359 to >"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct."
>>
>>6018344
>"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct."
Let's not fuck this up
>>
Hawthorne's been MIA since the event, right? Did something else happen during that? I thought it was only Firebug
>>
>>6018344
>>"I'll go with you. Banks disappearing after Firebug went down is odd."
>>
>>6018344
>"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct."

If Hawthorn dies, we riot.
>>
>>6018344
>"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct."
>>
>>6018344
>"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct."
>>
>>6018370
>>6018380
>>6018428
>>6018875
>>6018880

"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct." You decide.

Kimble simply nods and holds out a fist once more, you tap his knuckles and you both split off. You heading back towards the stage and parking lot and he back up the street. During the walk back it's hard not to marvel at the chaos Firebug caused, scorched circles with uneven edges litter the ground and a few curtains from the stage lie in a crumpled pile with white dust from fire extinguishers sprinkled atop. You frown thinking how easily that could have been you or Banks.

Passing the stage you see a massive line of vehicles, slowly but surely being directed out. Officers with long guns hold a checkpoint at the exit and run ID's as people pass through, by Gotham standards this is a pretty light response, as you scan over you see a second crowd; people with minor bruises, cuts, and scrapes surround a group of ambulances that offer on-site first aid. Sitting on the chrome bumper of an ambulance is the old man himself, a small swatch of gauze pressed to his throat just under his Adam's apple and a look like he simultaneously drank and smelt sour milk. You break into a light jog, which is still pushing it on your aching legs, and wave him down.

"Hawthorne!" You call out. He nods to you and rises from his seat to approach.

"He's dead." Hawthorne mutters to you angrily through a tightly clenched jaw.

"Woah, what happened? Your neck i-"

"He got the jump on me. Your boy." He says the final part in a low whisper.

"My boy?" You ask, your mind flashing to images of Caesar.

"SIM."

"What? How?"

"He must have been dressed as one of the Meter Maids or Ankle Jerks. Back door opens and before I can tell him to get the hell out there's a blade to my neck." He pulls the gauze away and shows a thin cut surrounded by the dark stain of antiseptic.

"Holy shit.." You whisper. "What did he want? Did you tell anyone?"

"Had too, Rook. I passed out the news and now everyone is getting checked. The mole in GCPD is public knowledge to the department now. He also delivered a message. Mandragora makes bail or else was the gist of it."

"He didn't say anything else specifically?"

"I was too busy thinking about how to get to my ankle holster to pay close attention. But I got the gist. Mandragora wants out and he's willing to green light all of us if he doesn't get it. Your name got brought up."

"I bet. Fucking maniac."

Hawthorne looks over both shoulders subtly, acting as if he's showing off his cut, before leaning in.
"He mentioned something about you missing a meeting. Got any clue about what that's about?"

You clench your fists.
"The phone. The one we use to communicate, it's been in my glovebox since the sting went down."

"The glovebox of the car.-"

"The car sitting in impound? Yeah."

"Fuck."

"Yeah." You repeat.

You both stand in silence thinking for a few moments.
>>
>>6018344
>>"Go find Banks. I'll get Hawthorne, once I have the phone back we can work on this together at the precinct."
Ok, "Dark Shivers" is hilarious, and now I'm just waiting for this name to catch on, to Mark's infinite cringe
>>6018428
>If Hawthorn dies, we riot.
If Hawthorne dies, we are surprised he survived Mandragora affair in the first place.
>>
"Everyone knows about the mole now, so expect Dent to come down hard on us. Especially after Firebug took a second run at him." Hawthorne tells you.

"That's not all we learned, Firebug talked."

"No shit?"

"Apparently this is all Calcs plan. Seems like everyone in on whatever it is gets something from pitching in. Anarky wants Wayne, Firebug wanted Dent, Cobblepot and the Mob Heads just want to be a part of whatever change Calc promised."

"And fatso wanted to see his son again." Hawthorne growls. "Which makes the real question-"

"What Calc gets out of this."

Hawthorne rolls his eyes.
"You've been spending too much time with Gray, he can't keep his revelations to himself either."

"Sorry, Sir."

"Just keep a cork on your enthusiasm around some of the higher ups, they won't find your naïveté as charming."

"You find it charming?" You say with a hand over your heart.

"Shut up." He tells you with a half concealed smile.

"What's our plan then?" You ask, back to business.

"Sounds like you need that phone, get in contact with this freak and.." He lets his sentence drift, eventually shrugging. "We'll figure it out."

"But if he jumped you here he could still be around."

"Or he could have already ditched the whole outfit and vamoosed."

"How far could he have got? If you got out right after him?"

Hawthorne stays silent, his pale cheeks turning a light pink.
"It was a few minutes before I could tell anyone."

"What?"

"He uh...cuffed me with my own bracelets." He tells you rapidly, adding in immediately. "If you laugh I'll have you counting quarters out of the meters at Wayne Tower."

You suppress all humor in your heart, mind, and soul and hold up two hands.
"Shit happens." You state plainly. "But he could still be in the area."

"If you want a ride back to the station then I can take you. I'll tag along if you decide to do some off the clock hunting too. I'm owed."

>"Let's focus on the phone, I brought Kimble in on SIM, we need to group up and talk strategy."
>"He can't have already gotten away, we can find him the old fashioned way."
>"Even if he did get away, as long as he's in the city we have a chance. I'll use Shivers."
>Write-In
>>
>>6019433
>"He can't have already gotten away, we can find him the old fashioned way."
Fucking Christ.
>>
SIM is one of the cops. He doesn't know we had to be at the award ceremony? He doesn't know phones not allowed at those? He knew about the sting afterward because of the Mandragora ultimatum, so he didn't put 2 and 2 together? There's no way for Mark to have got the phone at any point since, dumbass. Now that the mole existing is known, does that cut into Mark's investigation with Gray and Hawthorne? This is a real shitshow now. Hawthorne BEATING Mandragora was a victory and all and the old man deserved that before his retirement, but the lardass is still fighting back
>>
>>6019480
Oh wait, Mandragora knows about Mark now. SIM has a direct line to him too. Or maybe SIM cares about Mark in that twisted way so he's keeping that info away from Mandragora?
>>
it's Banks
>>
>>6019507
No way
>>
>>6019480
To address the first line of your post, I'll just say Mark's involvement in the sting was entirely under wraps known only to Gray, Kimble, Hawthorne, and Reiner. Other people, like the Construction Crew, know about as much as you told them. Also ATM you don't really have any reason to suspect that Mandragora KNOWS you were an undercover. He could definitely suspect it, but you'd have to talk to him or someone else to know. So by extension there's few reasons to suspect Mandragora would even bring Mark's being there up to SIM at all.

TLDR: As far as SIM knows, Mark has gone radio silent for two days for some reason.

This is, of course, all completely dependent on how close of an eye SIM has been keeping on Mark. I wonder if your chats on the phone have made him wary of you or trusting that maybe you want to help more than harm..
>>
Holy shit I totally misread things at first and thought Hawthorne killed SIM offscreen
It was the "He's dead" line that got me
>>
>>6019433
>"He can't have already gotten away, we can find him the old fashioned way."
>>
>>6019433
>"He can't have already gotten away, we can find him the old fashioned way."
>>
>>6019433
>>"He can't have already gotten away, we can find him the old fashioned way."
>>
>>6019423
>If Hawthorne dies, we are surprised he survived Mandragora affair in the first place.
True, to be desu.

>>6019734
Me, too. Did a double-take.

>>6019433
>"Let's focus on the phone, I brought Kimble in on SIM, we need to group up and talk strategy."

>>6019507
Can't be!... Can it?
>>
>>6019734
>>6020070
Wait I don't get it. So who is dead? Someone please explain
>>
>>6020174
I think Hawthorne said "He's dead" as in "I'm going to kill that motherfucker"
>>
>>6020196
I thought it was Hawthorne being snarky and saying he (Hawthorne) was dead. Like when someone asks if you're asleep and you response in the affirmative.
>>
>>6020200
I thought that too, it could be either.
>>
>>6020196
Bingo, anon, reading it in grumpy old man voice helps it click.

>>6019438
>>6019864
>>6019868
>>6019907

"Let's work on getting you that pay back then. He can't have gotten away already, we can find him the old fashioned way."

"Couldn't you use-" Hawthorne begins but stops himself, awkwardly clearing his throat. "Your call, Rook. Gives me a chance to grade you on your urban tracking."

You ignore the clear direction his sentence was going to cast a look over the flowing crowds of people around you.
"If I was going to do something like that I'm left with two options, stay in uniform and just blend in or ditching the outfit and trying to filter out with the civilians."

"And what does your gut say?"

"He's bold. Bold enough to try and pull something on you of all people, I wouldn't put it past him to keep the uniform on and try to just pass it off."

"He had the same yellow vest as the Meter maids, means he stole one or he's a shit heel who pissed off someone enough to get stuck there."

"So you think he's the mole?"

"If he isn't then he's working with him. Either way a vest like that is a beacon, first move is to take it off."

"Unless he expects us to expect that.." You mumble.

"Jesus Christ, we're going in circles. Vest or no we're in a sea of cops, every precinct spared some men for this shit, the pool for suspects is just too large."

You put a hand to your jaw and rub as you let your eyes drift over the crowd. Your mind turns as Hawthorne mumbles some more curses and colorful plans on what he would inflict on SIM if he ever got a hold of him. You let him vent and focus on your thinking. Every precinct in Gotham sent men here. Judging by the expressions most of them wear this speech was probably the last place they wanted to be. You remember something Hawthorne told you in the cruiser on your way to the Museum Opening.

"Be glad we're on VIP duty, rook, everyone else there is gonna be dealing with the public. Basically have to draw names on scraps of paper to find people to work the crowds."

Names on scraps of paper.

Scraps of paper...

Paper.

"Sir?" You ask suddenly, interrupting the description of something that would get most people admitted to Arkham.

"Huh?" Hawthorne replies, his left hand firmly grasped around the wrist of his right.

"What about paperwork? Do they keep record of who's assigned to what?"

"Damn straight they do." He replies, a sly smile spreading on his weathered face before faltering slightly. "Only one problem."

"I'm guessing the records are kept tight?"

"For something like this each precinct keeps their own record. The only place with the full list is City Hall."

"So we can't request them?"

"Not without explaining why, and even if we did explain it all that means is we'll be told to let the Rat Squad handle it."

"Rat squad?"

"Internal Affairs. By the time they get their heads out of their asses it could be two months or so from now."

"Are you serious?"
>>
"Do you have any idea how many incidents are reported to them in Gotham a week, Mark? They were Dent's first stop on his renovation tour, filled it with ass kissers and cry babies, now everything they do is at a snail's pace."

"So they just do nothing? Until what, their schedule opens up?"

"They'll do enough to seem busy, probably make every precinct do a Uniform count and submit it."

"So we're screwed." You state shaking your head, a faint aching starting to form behind your eyes.

"Not exactly. I said WE couldn't ask."

"Then who?"

"The Watch Commanders and Commissioner are the only other ones who could request it without red tape and eyebrows."

"Would Commander Reiner ask questions?"

"Definitely. He wouldn't let us brush him off either, we'd have to play straight with him." Hawthorne says grimly, his tone makes you feel like he may not fully approve of what you've been up to.

"The Commander told me he was sticking his neck out for me, asked me if I could prove him right about Metas in the police.."

Hawthorne grumbles, his hands moving to his hips as he paces back and forth. You find a wall to lean against and just close your eyes, trying to will away the headache and ignore those whispers creeping from the back of your mind.

"There's another option." Hawthorne begins softly, his voice lacking the usual confidence and force you'd grown accustomed to. "You ever hear the expression 'in for a penny, in for a pound' before?"

"Obviously." You reply more sharply than intended.

"Don't get snippy with me, rook. I'm just saying that." He looks around, lowering his already minute volume. "We've already been running off leash for how long now? Would getting those files ourselves really be out of the question?"

You flick your eyes up to him and see he looks at you with something you usually only see on perps and victims. Desperation.

>"Not happening, if we cross that line what's the point of even having the badge? We have to talk to Reiner and if I have to face the music. That's just the cost."
>"I can't. I know it's the best move for us but I can't do it. It would betray every reason I became a cop. I'm sorry, Hawthorne."
>"It's our only option, I don't like it but we need to close in on SIM. We don't have a choice."
>"Let's do it. This thing in my brain puts things in a new perspective, I need to see this through before...whatever happens."
>"We can't do that. But like you said before WE can't do it. But we know two people who aren't very fond of authority."
>Write-In
>>
>>6020258
>"Not happening, if we cross that line what's the point of even having the badge? We have to talk to Reiner and if I have to face the music. That's just the cost."
But with the caveat of adding in that it would betray every reason he joined the police force.
>>
>>6020258
>>"It's our only option, I don't like it but we need to close in on SIM. We don't have a choice."
We are THIS close to at least getting a positive ID on the guy.
>>
>>6020265
+1
This case is also dovetailed with the mole given SIM works for Mandragora and so does the mole. Reiner will do it under the pretense to get at the mole, not SIM. Plausible deniability on his part
>>
>>6020258
>"I think we should take a chance on the Commissioner, since you think that Commander Reiner is a bit too much of a risk. Gordon seems like a reasonable man to me."
I'd like to interact with Gordon more, and he's almost guaranteed to help out without raising a big fucking fuss.
>>
>>6020258
Changing my vote from >>6020298 to backing >>6020306
>>
>>6020306
+1
I don’t love the idea of calling the schizo squad on this one. We can still do it (relatively) on the level.
>>
>>6020306
>>6020267
Fuck it, this actually seems doable and also doesn't betray our principles.
>>
>>6020306
Given the nature of the shitshow, he'll have an excuse to hear us out
>>
>>6020258
>"I think we should take a chance on the Commissioner, since you think that Commander Reiner is a bit too much of a risk. Gordon seems like a reasonable man to me."
We can suggest we got the tip from a trusted (sort of) Batman associate, and that verified it (kind of) with Shivers, but kept it under wraps until Hawthorne was targeted because we didn't want to jump the gun. You have to be sure, before you raise suspicions against another cop.
Gordon wil empathize, if he experienced 'Year One' with Flass in this conrinuity. He got banished to Gotham because of a botched IA investigation, then got the gears in the days when GCPD was openly racketeering
>>
>>6020306
+1
>>
>>6020306
+1
>>
>>6020306
supporting
>>
>>6020306
>>6020308
>>6020311
>>6020315
>>6020398
>>6020453
>>6020693
>>6020708
>>6020889

You aren't sure if Hawthorne is taking this acting this way due to your condition or if he's truly worried about what SIM might be capable of if Mandragora isn't released. The last time Hawthorne crossed him it cost him so much. You give him a shake of your head, you can't let him stray off the path when he's supposed to have won.

"There's another option."

"I'm all ears."

"I think we should take a chance on the Commissioner, since you think Commander Reiner could be a risk."

"Not a risk. I just know the guy, he isn't the type to let these sorta things slide without damn good reasons. Gordon though is a whole different story."

"How so? Gordon seems like a reasonable man to me."

"He is. More than reasonable, the problem is he's the damn Commissioner. We can't just get a meeting with the guy, especially after all this he's going to be up to his neck in paperwork, interviews, and antacids."

"He might if he knows I'm asking."

"Is that so? Because I came up with Gordon for a time, worked with him when Loeb was in charge, not directly but I saw him around. I doubt he'd even see us right now if I was the one asking."

"I get that, but the commissioner and I have..I guess you could say we have mutual friends."

"Go on." He asks suspiciously.

"You know. Him."

You gesture vaguely to the sky and Hawthorne raises his eyebrows.
"The Bat? You're joking right?"

"My ex, remember I told you she worked with Super Girl and had some connections?"

"Oh Jesus, son. Are you syaing what I think you're saying?"

"I met him outside of Gotham, he offered me a job."

Hawthorne's eyes go wide and he blinks a few times before responding.
"You told him to stuff it, then? Otherwise I don't see SIM being much of an issue. Matter of fact, why didn't you just bring it up to him then and there? Ask for help?"

You open your mouth to respond and then slowly close it. You feel warmth gathering in your cheeks as they go a deep red.
"I." You clear your throat. "I was having a bad week, okay? So I might have just, yelled at him."

"You yelled at him? For offering you a job?"

"No, he broke into my apartment."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter. Gordon will talk to me; we had a sort of bonding moment, I guess, before the sting."

"If you think so then go for it, if it doesn't pan out then..." He shrugs. "I guess we're SOL and we deal with it then."

"Pretty much."

"What's the next stop then? Your car or do we try to go straight to Gordon before he gets mummified in red tape?"

>"My phone, I can buy us time with SIM."
>"Gordon, SIM is unhinged and I don't know if I can keep him from doing something drastic."
>Write-In?
>>
>>6021032
>"My phone, I can buy us time with SIM."
>>
>>6021042
+1
We need SIM to remain and not elude us
>>
>>6021098
Exactly. If we can pin him down or even get him to inadvertently reveal his location or identity, all the better.
Either way, keeping him talking is our best bet, and it sounds like he REALLY wants to get a hold of Mark right now.
>>
>>6021032
>"My phone, I can buy us time with SIM."

This fucking pest. If Mark’s gonna die anyways, we should just “dishonorably discharge” a shotgun into this fucker’s back.
>>
>>6021032
>"My phone, I can buy us time with SIM."
>>
>>6021032
>>"My phone, I can buy us time with SIM."
>>
Looks like we are pretty much in agreeance, I feel a long update coming so I'm gonna go ahead and wait until I get home to start writing it up. Feel free to continue to vote in the meantime if you want a free (You)

See you guys soon.
>>
>>6021042
>>6021098
>>6021116
>>6021286
>>6021791

"My phone, I can buy us time with SIM."

"You sure about that?"

"We have a rapport. A really fucked up one but it's there. He wanted to meet me and talk face to face."

"Probably planning to stick you in the ribs." Hawthorne mumbles bitterly as he rubs his shallow cut.

"I thought so too, told him if it came down to a meeting then it would be public."

"You don't plan on honoring that do you?"

"Guess we'll find out soon. I have a feeling that's why he's so jumpy."

"Then let's get to the station. Sooner that meet is set the sooner I get a chance to take a run at him."

"I don't think that's a good idea, sir. He has.." You do everything in your power to not say 'Dark Shivers' "Similar abilities to me. If you or Gray come then he'll probably pick up on it."

Hawthorne grumbles, but you can tell he agrees. He sighs and looks over the parking lot as a Gotham News Van pulls in.
"Vultures are here, let's get you back to your car before they start picking at us."

"Don't have to tell me twice, sir." You reply with a swift turn on your heel.

=========

As Hawthorne's car dips down an old slope approaching the motor bay roll-up door he pulls down his visor and reveals a thick plastic brick with a red button. He taps it and it begins to open. You give him a sideways glance and he shrugs.
"When auto makes a good bust I bring Mendez some booze and we talk cars for a while. She knows her stuff, I use the old entrance so I don't have to go walking past the night shift."

You raise an eyebrow and smirk. A grimace and a roll of the eyes serve as his initial response.
"Grow up."

"I didn't say anything, sir."

"Keep it that way."

The car rolls in slowly, the gentle yellow lights illuminating the massive concrete complex. Most of the vehicles you pass seem to be older models of GCPD patrol cars, SUV's, and even a Motorcycle complete with saddlebags. You hadn't seen this very base of the garage before, every morning you just picked up your shop from the top level and left through the more modern roll-up doors there. Hawthorne notices your wandering eyes.

"We save this level for storage. No reason to ever come down here unless things have gotten so bad we're handing out decommissioned clunkers."

"So none of them drive?"

"Probably could, with some spit and elbow grease. But our budget is tight enough right now."

The car slows to a stop and Hawthorne pulls the key before stepping out, you follow suit and let him lead you to a tall thin metal door. He slides it open with a grunt as rusty steel screeches against itself and reveals a dimly lit elevator.

"Is this safe?" You ask, stepping in cautiously.

"Absolutely, I've taken it a hundred times." He replies as he slams the door shut. "Only got stuck once."

"What?"

An elevator ride filled with chuckling later, a distorted 'ding' announces your arrival as the door slides open to reveal the interior of the impound cage.
>>
Your eyes immediately scan from side to side, hunting for the familiar form of your old car. It doesn't take long to find it considering that leaning against it's hood is Officer Mendez in plain clothes, an expectant look in her eyes, she gestures for you to come closer.

"Rookie." She tells you curtly before giving Hawthorne a nod. "Mitch."

"Ma'am." He replies with equal stoicism.

"Since this was my day off and all you have something for me, right?"

She holds out a hand, palm up, and lifts her eyebrows. Hawthorne digs in a pocket and pulls out a key which he places gently in her hand. She smiles and nods before pocketing it.
"Appreciate ya." She turns her attention to you. "I've got your key too, I spared you the sticker even. That adhesive can be a bitch on upholstery."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Mhm." She says nodding for you to walk with her. She approaches your car and opens the passenger side, pulling a plastic bag full of loose items. Your heart sinks as you stare at the silver flip phone pressed against the thin plastic.

"You catalogued my stuff?"

"Don't look so spooked, rookie. They didn't get me the memo until I was halfway done taking your VIN, plus that phone was going crazy. I had to turn it off."

"Oh." You say simply. Your mind already racing to find an answer to whatever question she could come up with.

"Relax." She states firmly. "I have more to do than worry about your private life, DeLucia. You've been straight with me so, it's none of my business."

"Oh?" You repeat almost automatically.

"Mhm. Rumor is you have more than enough woman trouble on your own without me adding to it." She finishes with a teasing smirk.

"Wait, what? What rumors?"

A firm hand claps your shoulder and Hawthorne gives you a faux sympathetic smile.
"It's alright, kid. Mendez don't judge. Do you Mendez?"

She holds up both hands and twirls Hawthorne's car key around her finger. Sly smile spreading.
"Judge what? I didn't see a thing."

"Thanks?"

"Don't mention it." She looks to Hawthorne as she passes him. "I'll bring her back with a full tank, Mitch."

He grunts in affirmation and she steps into the elevator. Giving a small wave before sliding the door shut. You let out a held breath and look to Hawthorne.
"You're letting her drive the car?"

"It was that or wait until Monday to get your car. Would you have rather waited?"

"No, just surprised you had her number and all...Mitch." You say as you dig the phone out of the bag.

"Rich coming from the office womanizer."

"You know that isn't-" You whip your head up, stopping when you see the grin. You save whatever face you have left and pull the phone.

Slowly it boots up and reveals a litany of text messages that grow more and more demanding as they go, eventually ending with: 'ANSWER ME, MARK.'
>>
"I can see why Mendez thought it was a broad."

You flick through the history until you get near the top. Sent an hour or so after you got into the meeting with Gordon before the sting.
'Let's meet, base of Wayne Tower, are you free?'

"Fuck." You whisper. "He has to know I was in the sting now, that I went at Mandragora."

"What do we do then?"

"I don't know, I didn't expect it to be THIS bad. And we still need to handle Gordon on top of this.." You begin to ramble as your thoughts snowball into words.

"Slow down, rook, when you're dealing with a situation like this you need to get your priorities in order. We came here for the phone, now we have it. So we deal with that first." Hawthorne speaks calmly but firmly, still a teacher.

You give a shallow nod and open the phone. 'SPD DIAL 1' stares back at you, shining through the dim light of the garage.

"What's our next move, son?" He prods.

>"We wait for Kimble and Gray. Together we can talk strategy."
>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."
>"Maybe he's still up for the meet. I'll text him to meet me at the Tower."
>Write-In
>>
>>6021958
>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."
>>
>>6021958
>>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."
>>
>>6021958
>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."
Pacify him first thing so he doesn't do something dangerous or go flight risk on us. Remind him we would respond if we were able, so Mark not responding at all means he wasn't able.
>>
>>6021958
>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."
>>
>>6021990
+1
>>
>>6021958
>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."
>>
>>6021958
>>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."
>>
>>6021958
>"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."

>>6022750
>>6022786
Any chance we can pivot the quest to this?
>>
>6022954
Kill yourself
>>
>>6022954
Porn addicts like you are funny people.
And by funny, I mean disgusting.
>>
>>6022954
I thought it was a funny joke, anon.
>>
>>6022954
After his help at the museum event? For shame, Anon.

Also there isn't exactly a Batgirl...
>>
>>6021968
>>6021972
>>6021990
>>6022119
>>6022216
>>6022476
>>6022954

"I should call him, I need to see where we stand and what he's thinking."

Hawthorne simply nods, then he just... lingers.

"Uh, sir?"

"Yeah?"

"Could I get a little?" You wiggle the phone.

"You don't want me listening to your pillow talk, eh?"

Now it's your turn to roll your eyes.
"He may be able to sense if someone is with me."

"Ah. Right." He says looking around the dim garage. "Guess I should go make sure Mendez doesn't scratch up my baby."

You say nothing but your eyes convey it all. A crooked middle finger pops up from his right hand as he slaps the elevator button with the left.
"I'll stay down there, come grab me when you're done talking to your boyfriend." He says over his shoulder.

"Yes, sir." You reply with a smarmy grin.

Just before the doors close you swear you see the smallest break of a grin on his face. But as the whirring sound of the elevator fades away your grin slips and you feel an anxious brick form in your gut. The blue screen of the flip phone stares at you like piercing eyes from shadow. You sigh and hit dial.


Ring...

Ring..

Ring.

A crackle and then silence, broken up by slight static and the faintest sound of breathing. You remain silent and are met with the same.

"You there?" You eventually speak up first.

"Mark?" That high pitched Cherub-like voice asks.

"I want to start this off by letting you know. If anything happens to Hawthorne or anyone else, this is over. Our conversations, any offer to help you, and anything I can teach you about how to control the voices. It's all out the window. I'll devote every second I have to finding you and putting you in cuffs. Do you understand?"

A lingering silence again emerges, but this time he breaks it.
"Yes, Mark. I'm sorry about that. But it couldn't be avoided, I have people I answer to."

"So Mandragora is still giving you orders? Even from inside."

"I don't want to talk about him right now. How are you? Where were you?"

"Doing my job."

"See, I understand that. I get that you have a job to do. You understand that for me too, right?" It's voice quivers.

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't want you to hate me, Mark.."

"Answer me then. What do you mean by that?"

"The police have a chain of command, same as the military, same as the government, anything large enough needs that chain. People who give orders and people who follow orders. If someone on the top goes away that chain doesn't break. It just shortens a length."

You feel your blood go cold as he speaks.

"Mark, if you want to save your friends you need to make sure Mandragora is released. On bail or whatever it doesn't matter. It needs to happen before the week ends."

"Who told you this?"

"You know I can't say.."

"Is it Angelo?"

The other line is silent.

"I know he was Mandragora's right hand. Is it him?"

"You know. I can't say." It repeats. But the tone of it's voice is more than clear.
>>
Fuck.

"Yeah, I get it. 'Your new boss' then. What's he planning for the end of the week?"

"Once I tell him the message was delivered he'll send the word out. If Mandragora isn't breathing fresh air by sunrise on Saturday..it's a green light."

"A green light!? Like a hit?"

"Yes.." It whispers.

"On who?"

"All of them, Mark. Kimble, Bennett, Hawthorne, Reiner. Everyone who had a hand in the sting."

You feel sick. It feels like your heart is being pulled across your ribs like a xylophone mallet.

"Mark. They want you too."

"What?"

"They know you won't let it go. The other Officer's will just want their pound of flesh, but they know you'll want more. I tried to tell them, I tried."

"Them? You mean your boss and the mole?"

More silence.

"Fuck you!" Your voice echoes harshly across the garage. You wrangle your temper and let out a stream of hot breath through clenched teeth. "I need to know who the Mole is."

"I can't.."

"I need to know. You have to tell me."

"I CAN'T!" It squeals back, the modulation on it's voice peaking. You hear sniffles and stifled sobs. "I don't want you to die, Mark. You're the only friend I have."

You let the arm holding your phone limply fall by your side and stare into the humming fluorescent bulb of the garage. Your eyes sting and you feel the warm wet trails of tears etching lines down your cheek, but when you check you find nothing. Not a trace of moisture. Not your tears. Things always just seem to go from bad to worse, every victory revealing a loss yet to be suffered, yet the thought of conceding never crosses your mind. The only thing burning a hole in your brain is the question.

How can you convince SIM to help you here? Do you even want his help? Do you even need it?

Slowly you raise the phone back to your ear.

>"Do you still want to meet? Wayne Tower? No weapons." An in person meeting could be what you need to convince him and make him tell you.
>"I'm going to die. I have a brain tumor." Shock him with this, if he's crying over the chance of you dying then this may rattle him enough to break him.
>"I'll handle it. Let them know." This isn't even close to what you want, but a win turning to a draw is better than a win turning to a loss.
>"I'm not dying, and neither is anyone I know. Don't call me again unless you're ready to tell me who the mole is." You don't need him, Gordon is your silver lining right now. You just need to put your hope in him helping you.
>Write-In (Recommended)

Posting this early because I'd really like to give you guys some chance to game-plan. Super interested to read any write-ins you may have as well.

As is tradition, following massive dialogue updates, I'd love to hear your guy's opinions on the characters so far. Especially if your thoughts on anyone have changed over the course of our 7 threads. Thanks again for reading, see you soon.
>>
>>6024490
>>"I'm not dying, and neither is anyone I know. Don't call me again unless you're ready to tell me who the mole is." You don't need him, Gordon is your silver lining right now. You just need to put your hope in him helping you.
>>
>>6024490
>"I'm going to die. I have a brain tumor." Shock him with this, if he's crying over the chance of you dying then this may rattle him enough to break him.
>>
>>6024490
>Bennett
Not Banks? Is that a slip?!
>>
>>6024490
>"Do you still want to meet? Wayne Tower? No weapons." An in person meeting could be what you need to convince him and make him tell you.
He wanted it first. We're just following up
>>
>>6024597
Nope! It's Gray, Gray is just a nickname. That is his last name. (I only brought up his real name once, so I don't blame you for not realizing.)

Banks was also not involved with the sting.

The real slip is how often I swap between Gray and Grey.
>>
>>6024490
>"I'm not dying, and neither is anyone I know. Don't call me again unless you're ready to tell me who the mole is." You don't need him, Gordon is your silver lining right now. You just need to put your hope in him helping you.
>>
>>6024490
>"I'm not dying, and neither is anyone I know. Don't call me again unless you're ready to tell me who the mole is." You don't need him, Gordon is your silver lining right now. You just need to put your hope in him helping you.

Would it make us a hypocrite to mag dump into this fucker when we get him?
>>
>>6024490
>Write-in, after hanging up the phone:
Call Question, give him the details of the situation. Ask him what he knows about the GCPD mole.
>>
>>6024583
+1
>>
>>6024490
>"I'm going to die. I have a brain tumor." Shock him with this, if he's crying over the chance of you dying then this may rattle him enough to break him.
>>
>>6024490
>"I'm going to die. I have a brain tumor." Shock him with this, if he's crying over the chance of you dying then this may rattle him enough to break him.

>"Do you still want to meet? Wayne Tower? No weapons." An in person meeting could be what you need to convince him and make him tell you.

Then

>Call Question
>>
>>6024505
>>6024583
>>6024631
>>6024639
>>6024659
>>6024641
>>6024751

Slowly you raise the phone back to your ear, only to be greeted by muted erratic breathing on the other end. Something inside of you snaps but instead of the usual bubble of anger you feel an unceasing and perfectly still calm come over you.

"I'm not dying and neither is anyone I know."

"Wha-"

"Listen, don't call me again unless you're ready to tell me who the mole is."

"Mark, please don't do-"

Your thumb presses against the disconnect button and it's voice is cut off. You leave your finger there, pressing hard enough to make your hand tremble, until the vibration lets you know the phone is shut off. You clap it closed and stick it in your back pocket, before your hand slides to the front and grabs your cell.

"Offier, I've been waiting to hear from you." Question speaks in his usual stoic manner.

"I've been a little busy."

"I saw. The news has been showing footage of the attack on Dent all morning, have we considered this could be a ploy by Dent to secure votes?"

You resist pulling the string of that conspiracy blanket and go straight to business.
"I need you on something. I have a plan to look into it but I need a safety net."

"I'm all ears."

"The GCPD Mole, I need you to tell me everything you know, and if you don't know anything then you need to find whatever you can on it."

"What's your timeline?"

"End of the week. SIM let me know that if Mandragora isn't free by then, it's a green light on everyone involved with the sting."

"Mmm." He grunts, you swear you hear... clacking? "Catching the mole doesn't seem like it'll alleviate the green light issue."

"I'll worry about that, I just need to know who this fucker is. It's long overdue."

"Agreed."

A pause settles before Question awkwardly resumes.
"Have you spoken to Sergeant Hawthorne recently?"

"Yes?"

"And did he mention.."

"I saw it, Q."

"So, GCPD does have access to private CCTV."

"Question.." You groan.

"A joke, Officer. I'll start looking into it as fast as I can."

"Does Huntress have anything on her plate? I could probably use the both of you."

"It'll just be me." He replies quickly and a little too firmly.

"Everything okay?"

"After the Sergeant apprehended Mandragora she requested... some space. I'm obliging that for her."

"Oh." You reply, not really sure how to react. "I'm sorry, Q."

"For what, Officer? We did nothing wrong. I'll contact you as soon as I find anything."

You open your mouth to speak but a series of beeps informs you of the disconnect. You frown and pocket the phone as you head to the elevator, your descent a lot more stable this time with only one body in the rusted box. When the doors open you see Hawthorne leaned into his own passenger window, a smile on his face as he speaks. When he sees you he gives a nod and turns back to the interior.

"Not a scratch. Full tank." He says sternly, but with a chuckle. He taps the roof of the vehicle and as Mendez pulls off he sighs.
>>
"She wanted a daughter." He says, his voice tinged with nostalgia.

"Mendez?"

"Suzanne." He corrects. "We both wanted a family. I always told her I worried about what we would be able to pass onto them one day, she called it an investment when she took me to see that old rusted piece of junk. She bought it for eight hundred dollars."

He barks a sharp laugh.
"Can you believe that? Nearly a grand for a car that was on blocks."

"Why'd she pick that one?"

"I mentioned to her that I liked that model once. When we went on our first date I pointed one out and said one day I'd have my own. She remembered that. That's just how she was." His eyes gleam with deep resonating sadness. But he still smiles.

"She sounds amazing."

"She was." He says simply. "I just wanted to tell you that before you made another crack about me cradle-robbing. I was here when Mendez had her first day. She was quiet as a church mouse, but we clicked."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. I took her under my wing, helped her become that cherry bomb she is now.." His words trail off and you know better than to push to hear what he left unsaid.

"SIM isn't going to be a problem. Not until the weekend at least."

"Is that so?"

"He's a wreck, I don't think he could make any more moves against us if he wanted to. Him coming at you was a desperation move, if Mandragora isn't out by Saturday morning then we're greenlit. Not just us, Grey and Kimble too. Anyone connected to the sting."

"Swell." He says sarcastically. "I was almost ready to put this behind us and start thinking about retirement."

"I'm Sorry, sir."

"What for?"

"Dragging you into this. Not telling you sooner."

You feel two strong hands clasp your shoulders and Hawthorne looks deep into your eyes. His piercing gaze framed by an expression of grit.
"You did the right thing. Focus on that and what we can control."

"Yes, sir. Gordon is our next move, SIM wouldn't budge on the mole. I also have a plan B."

"Plan B?"

"Question. I asked him to run his own investigation. See if he could scrounge up anything we couldn't."

"Well I hope the smooth-faced bastard doesn't find any baby photos in the scumbag's wallet or this whole thing is a wash." He grumbles.

"Sir-"

"I know. He was right. But that doesn't mean I have to like him. Any word from Kimble?"

"Nothing yet."

"I'll get a call put out for him over dispatch. Gray is probably in the offices drowning in ink from all the forms he has to sign."

"The shooting?"

"Yup. Protect yourself and then justify it from three different angles to three different people. Quite the system Dent put in."

>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
>"Hold off on Kimble, he was looking for Banks earlier. Could be in a tough spot, coming face to face with Firebug again, let's take our run at Gordon. We can meet up afterwards."
>"I need time. So much has come up, I just need some time to myself."
>Write-In
>>
>>6025469
>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
huh, didn't revealing the brain tumor have more votes?
>>
>>6025470
You are 100% correct, Anon. Putting it plainly. I miscounted and fucked that a bit. Thankfully, it doesn't change a ton since I still planned on this touch base moment before moving to the next scene.

I'm definitely willing to retcon my update, however, and move forward with the meeting since that was what it should have been.


Fine with a small Retcon? Bundle this with your votes for the current bit. My apologies, fellas.
>Y
>N
>>
>>6025483
y
>>
>>6025483
>Y
>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
>>
>>6025483
>N
>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
>>
>>6025483
>Y
>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
A minor glimpse of alternate timeline?
>>
>>6025483
>Y

>>6025469
>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
>>
>>6025483
Y
>>
>>6025483
>Y
>>6025469
>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
>>
>>6025483
N
>>6025469
>>"Hold off on Kimble, he was looking for Banks earlier. Could be in a tough spot, coming face to face with Firebug again, let's take our run at Gordon. We can meet up afterwards."
>>
>>6025483
>Y
>"Put out the call for Kimble and we can get set up in the war room. We need to bring everyone up to speed now and get a game plan."
>>
File: HawthornesBackUp.jpg (59 KB, 564x451)
59 KB
59 KB JPG
>>6025470
>>6025498
>>6025513
>>6025515
>>6025673
>>6025927
>>6026102
>>6026282


"Put out the call for Kimble and we can set up in the war room. We need to get everyone up to speed now. Get a game plan."

He nods.
"I'll get it done. Start thinking about how we're gonna sell Dent on this, despite your bonding moment, I know him. He's going to push back on it."

"Really? Doesn't he, y'know?"

"Batman is different. There's history there with him and Gordon, not to mention actual on the book law making it okay for him to lend a hand. Going around official channels? Passing files with sensitive information around behind closed doors when there's an active mole? If this isn't air tight, and I mean not even a whistle, then he could lose his job."

"He's the commissioner, more than that even he's basically a hero to everyone in Gotham."

"To other people he's just as bad as the vigilantes. Grey and I aren't the only fossils around, there are plenty of people who came up with him just as I did. People who got passed over for the promotions he took, who lost partners of ten plus years due to his stance on corruption, and that's just his enemies in the department."

"So basically, I'll be asking him to risk his own head for me."

"On top of admitting to him that, before you even took your training wheels off, you went off-road and got tangled up in something like this. Gordon is a good guy, but everyone has their limits, son." Hawthorne tells you this with a pained expression, even he doesn't seem confident in how it could shake out.

"I guess we'll find out."

"Maybe. Maybe Kimble and Grey have some information too. Hell, the no-faced moron might bumble into something too." He puts on an encouraging voice and nods to his own words. "But I'll herd the cats, you have a meeting to go handle."

"Yeah, I do. Wayne tower isn't far, I don't expect to be there long."

"Let me know when you're there. I'll start a timer, if we don't make contact after a half hour.." He trails off.

"I'll be alright. Just try to get everyone caught up on what's going down before I get back, I know Kimble is gonna have questions for sure."

"Before you go. Do me a favor.." He kneels down and tugs at his pant leg, he pulls at thin straps and yanks away a leather holster. He holds it out to you revealing an off looking Snub Nosed Revolver. "Take my Fitz. A good luck charm."

"We agreed no weapons."

"This isn't a movie, Mark. This guy is skilled with a blade. Public space or not if he sticks you between the ribs and makes a break for it.." He trails off but the implication is clear. In your own head you find yourself unable to stop envisioning yourself lying on the pale stones of Tower Square with a spreading pool of crimson around you.

>Take Hawthorne's gun.
>"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."
>Write-In
>>
>>6026434
>Take Hawthorne's gun.
He lost the guarantee of us being unarmed when he murdered that cop.
>>
>>6026434
>"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."
I refuse to take chances here on him knowing. We went into the sting and came out OK
>>
>>6026434
>"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."
>>
>>6026434
>Take Hawthorne's gun.

Forewarned is forewarned. And I just don’t trust this human turd.
>>
>>6026434
>Take Hawthorne's gun.
>>
>>6026434
>"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."
The schizo has nega-shivers, I ain't 100% sure he can't divine this shit somehow.
>>
>>6026434
>"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."
He'll know.
>>
>>6026434

https://youtube.com/watch?v=GQlaRpdWIGM
>>
>>6026434
Negashivers + shivers + a deal between them at a place with a lot of city history to it?

Yeah that's asking for a shitshow if we both don't honor the contract.
>>
>>6026434
>"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."
>>
>>6026434
>Take Hawthorne's gun.
Come heavy even if we dont plan to use it
>>
>>6026434
>>Take Hawthorne's gun.
>>
Take Gun:
>>6026441
>>6026508
>>6026516
>>6026945
>>6027054

Leave Gun:
>>6026443
>>6026461
>>6026541
>>6026733
>>6026892
>>6026782 (?)

Seems like we are actually tied up here. Since >>6026782 doesn't have an explicit vote included with it, I'm gonna give 30-40 minutes for a vote change or new vote to come in. If that passes then I will go forward with a coin flip to decide.
>>
Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6027186
Up to fate then.

1 For Keeps

2 For Leaving
>>
>>6026441
>>6026434
>>6027186
>"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."
changing to this, don't want him sniffing it out on chance.
>>
File: WayneTowerSecurity.jpg (48 KB, 564x1128)
48 KB
48 KB JPG
You push the gun back to him lightly, the metal warm against your skin.

"What little rapport I have with this guy is built on trust, I can't risk him somehow finding out."

"Rook.." He begins but you shake your head.

"You know I'm right. He's shaken right now and something like this could be what sends him off the edge. Especially being near Wayne Tower, Shivers is already going to be stirred up like crazy."

Hawthorne holds that steel gaze on you but you're dead set. A few seconds pass and he sighs before leaning back down and refastening the holster. He yanks the rolled up pantleg over it again and stands shaking his head.

"I trust you, Mark. It's him that's the issue."

"I appreciate that, sir."

"Yeah." He grumbles.

"It'll be fine. Focus on getting everyone together, maybe put together an FAQ for Kimble." You chuckle and see Hawthorne's shoulders jump once as he lets his own silent chuckle loose.

"I will, kid, just text me when you get there. Thirty minutes and no contact I'll send someone. I'll send everyone." The unease is clear to see in his eyes. But your bond is too strong to let him stop you. You give him one last nod and make your way to the elevator, heading to the car.

=======

Wayne Tower's square was always busy. Reporters, Employees, even just people hoping to catch a glimpse of Wayne or his many guests. The trains connected to it rattle and shake the framework on which they rest. All of it watched over by stoic stone guardians who lurk on the edges of the tower.

This place was always bustling and this morning's attack on Dent has done nothing to cut those numbers down, quite the opposite it seems. A surging blob of lights, lens' and microphones crowd the door. An older man with a bald head stands at the door keeping the crews at bay.

"..Can you comment on Mr. Wayne's condition?"

"..Mr. Wayne vanished from the event just moments before the attack. Where did he go? Did he know it was coming?"

"...Are the rumors of the attacker wearing Wayne Tech gear true!?"

The reporters shout over one another, pushing and shoving for the chance to be the one who could break even the smallest story that would put Wayne's name in a headline. Your head swims slightly and a faint ache comes behind your eyes, you find a stone bench and take a seat. You inhale slowly and follow your meditations, but even then Shivers trickles through in small ways. Your face grows warm and itches, the scent of gauze infiltrating your nose, you close your eyes tightly and let out the breath. You open your eyes and see above you, falling slowly like a curtain of rain, slow and buoyant feathers. You blink. And the air is clear as it was just moments ago. You press your palms to your eyes and huff. You were right, this place is a hotspot for shivers, it feels like your brain is trying to pull you in every direction and the noise inside your own head reaches a fever pitch before it goes deathly silent.
>>
You lift your head, a sudden feeling of overwhelming dread, of fear, the feelings of prey. A vibration in your pocket makes you jump, you silently berate yourself and dig out the flip phone. You let your eyes scan the area as you hold it in your palm, vibrating violently like a trapped hornet, you let your eyes fall on a distant figure. Sitting at a café, looking directly at you, is a man. Dressed in pale grey sweat shirt with hood uplifted, dark sunglasses and a disposable face mask. You hold your stare on him and you both freeze, something deep in your chest surges, and you know it's him without a doubt. The vibration stops but you don't notice. You stare him down committing every detail, down to his shoelaces, in your mind. His outfit was undeniably cliché but he'd made it this long without being caught. The blur of movement breaks your concentration as you see him hold up the phone and wiggle it. Then, once more, the vibration kicks up in your hand.


As you move to answer you consider your approach to the conversation. If this goes poorly, it could be your last chat with him for a while.

=====
Gonna break this up into a three stage vote, you only need to vote for what you care about but you can vote in all three as well if you want. Attitude, General, and Verbatim. Attitude will be the only vote that has a "winner", the others will be included/touched upon. If that's at all confusing I will break it down below.

Attitude: The general mindset Mark has going into the conversation and will direct how he responds to certain things. This is to avoid stopping the conversation every couple back-and-forths for a dialogue wheel vote.

General: Got something you want brought up in the conversation? Want to ask him something specific but don't want to do a write-in style vote where you type it as Mark would say it? Vote general and then include what you want to come up, I'll make sure it get's touched on.

Verbatim: Your usual Write-In Style answer where you write as Mark would speak. Want him to say something specifically? Vote Verbatim and drop your line.

=====

[Conversation Attitude]
>Play it cool, be courteous and kind to him. More flies with honey than vinegar after all.
>Despite everything he's done, you still kinda worry about the guy, he's very fragile right now. You need to put on the kid's gloves.
>This guy is a killer and you're a cop. Keep it level with him, don't antagonize him but there's no need to placate either.
>Now that you finally see the scumbag you can feel your gut rumbling and the blood flowing. Be harsh on him, he's weak right now and you need to exploit it.
>Write-In

>General

>Verbatim

Let me know what you guys think of this system for handling big dialogue votes. If it's cool with you all, I'll probably use it in the future when we get to more segments that are likely to have very lengthy PC on NPC dialogue exchanges. Any suggestions to change it? Leave em in spoilers for me. [spoilers]
>>
>>6027227
>Now that you finally see the scumbag you can feel your gut rumbling and the blood flowing. Be harsh on him, he's weak right now and you need to exploit it.

General: Ask him why he’s acting as Mandragora’s lap dog. Why does it matter to him if the guy’s in prison? Gotham’s bloody janitor must have better things to do than work for criminals. There must be someone else giving him orders.

General: You say we’re friends, time to prove it. Give me information on the GCPD mole.

Verbatim: “So, who was the officer you killed for that uniform? What did they do to earn Gotham’s ire?”

Rationale: This guy’s been pretending like we’re friends for a long time, but he’s only been an emotional parasite. All take, no give back. We can threaten to cut his only “friendship” in exchange for some much-needed info.

And just to scream at him. It’s cathartic.
>>
>>6027227
I like it.
It’s a good way to add ideas to the discussion without breaking up the flow of the posts.
>>
>>6027320
No screaming. We're in public. "I'm not abgry, just disapppinted" is perfect here, for a guy with daddy issues. Otherwise, spot on and I can...

>>6027227
>Support

I like your dialogue approach. May crib it for my next quest, if it's alright?
>>
>>6027320
+1, and yes to not screaming as >>6027579 said
>>
>>6027320
We already know who's giving him orders now that the white whale's locked up. Mandragora's top guy, Angelo.
>>
>>6027579
Crib whatever you want, anon. I'm glad you like the idea.

Also bring it up in QTG whenever you launch and I'll make sure to read.
>>
Pushing the update to tomorrow, even though it's one of my weekend's I would rather give some extra time to make sure as many people as possible can add in a vote and their own suggestions.

Plus this is going to be a long ass part coming up so I'd prefer to do it from the comfort of my own desk without a time limit hanging over my head.

>If you've already voted and killed some time I would love to hear your favorite Character/Story Moment

See you guys tomorrow!
>>
>>6028087
>I would love to hear your favorite Character/Story Moment
The part where some random chemist stumbles upon the cure for cancer and Mark lives a long and happy life. Don't worry, we'll get there.
>>
>>6028096
This is DC. Even in Gotham, there must be a dozen potential cures for cancer we could potentially pursue.
Even then, we're still not even sure the tumor is actually cancerous or a "natural" result of the mutation that gave Mark his Shivers.
Having SIM submit to a diagnostic would probably go a long way towards figuring out exactly what this is (which is the only reason why I'm abstaining from killing him)
>>
>>6027227
>Attitude
>You are going to kill him, hopefully soon. But this guy thinks you're his friend. Let him think that, appear reluctant and torn, but possible to sway. Don't jump into holding hands with him, but give him hope. Be level-headed. Don't scream. This fuck is like a bpd girl with daddy issues, just listen to him whine without showing annoyance.
>General
Now that Mandragora is gone what compells you to keep working for calc?
Why would you make hits for calc? Does Gotham wants all of us dead?
You seem to be feeling like shit, is it because of shivers going crazy or Mandragora being imprisoned? Who's the mole? Tell him about the tumor, ask him if he ever got checked for that.

No verbatum, I'm too terse to write Mark's dialogue.

>>6028087
>Pushing the update to tomorrow, even though it's one of my weekend's I would rather give some extra time to make sure as many people as possible can add in a vote and their own suggestions.
Thanks, now I can get in
>>
>>6028087
Oh heeelllll yessss QM is cooking up something good!
>>
>>6028097
A lot of those cures have a very good chance of going horribly wrong and turning us into some mutant animal hybrid, super evil genius or die to give batman a good lesson.
>>
>>6028228
>have a very good chance of going horribly wrong
As opposed to our already existing powers possibly causing a brain tumor that might give us schizophrenia.
>turning us into some mutant animal hybrid
I would consider this a bonus. Doubly so if we're any sort of big cat hybrid.
>super evil genius
I have no idea what Evil Mark would even look like (and don't say SIM, him and Mark are two different people despite having similar abilities)
>or die to give batman a good lesson.
THAT is a genuine concern. The Spirit of Gotham seems to be obsessed with throwing character-building moments at the guy.
>>
>>6028394
I think evil mark would be more judge dredd but he can literally shivers into surveilling all of gotham all the time.
>>
>>6028394
>big cat
A snake, anon. Come on. Stay on theme!
>>
File: kingcobra.png (720 KB, 591x505)
720 KB
720 KB PNG
>>6028421
That gimmick already belongs to another Gothamite, pic related.
>>
>>6028455
Arrest him, or shoot him. Steal his name. Simple as.
>>
>>6028419
Big Brother meets Judge Dredd on a precognitive quick-draw specialist.

The Cobra sounds like a worse threat than SIM ever was. Imagine someone who would shoot you dead for simply knowing that you would do something wrong in the future.
>>
>>6028538
>he's going to jaywalk in two weeks
>break his fucking legs
>"AFFIRMATIVE, HEAD-VOICE"
>>
>>6028592
Good batman villian actually.
>>
>>6028592
Oh, so what retards think the Punisher is.
Yeah that'd probably make for a good Batman villain.
>>
>>6028153
supporting
>>
>>6028599
It could go two directions.

One, a complicated plot about the nature of free will and being continuously presented with horrific trolley problems on a daily basis.

Or you could be hilariously petty, like that one movie where Dwight from The Office beats a guy with a wrench for cutting in line.
>>
>>6028700
"Super" was good. Grim, though. Pre-transition Elliot Page rapes Rainn Wilson. I mainly remember that.
>>
>>6028705
I wasn't expecting how it turned out for her character at the time. Pretty wild.
>>
You hear your heartbeat in your ears. Your face goes hot and prickly.

"The SIM Killer." You start, attempting to throw him off with out of the gate confrontation. Call him a killer. Push his buttons. But keep your own rage restrained.

"You aren't as nice in person." The cherub like voice replies, the modulator still on.

"Face to face meeting over a phone isn't exactly what you promised."

"I needed to see you, but it still pays to be cautious."

"Right."

Your mind races, he must be confident that his basic features won't be enough to narrow him down. Height, Weight, Skin color, all of it he's confidence he can blend into the crowd. But the main thing he can't hide. His voice.

It makes you wonder, is he hiding his voice because you've already heard it? Or is it because there's a high chance of you too running into each other? It's high whining voice breaks your concentration.

"I didn't think this would be so awkward."

"You just told me there's a price on my head unless I let a monster free. Hasn't exactly been a good day."

"I understand...I don't want any of this." Traces of that earlier sadness still laced in the words. You almost believe it's genuine. Hell, it might be.

"Then why keep being the fat man's lapdog? This whole time you've been trying to play like we're friends, like you want to change-"

"I do."

"Then why? Why does it still matter to you if the guy's in jail?"

"The chain of command we talked about."

"I know. Angelo is the hand that feeds now. I want to know why you're too scared to bite it."

"I'm not afraid. Of anyone." It replies, the voice laced with venom. Button pushed.

"Then explain."

You watch the distant figure squirm in it's chair. Fist clenched as the other hand rubs it's knee, almost obsessively, combined with a rocking. He just needs another shove.

"If you want my help. If you want me to be your friend. I need to know more. Friends talk to each other or they don't stay friends long.." You let your words trail and leave him to connect dots.

A reluctant groan comes over the speaker. But you see the figure continuing to rock gently and shake it's head from side to side. You worry this much pressure may have been too much, until it speaks again.

"Okay Mark, I trust you. But know that if anyone else finds out about this. I'll know." The voice is deadly serious and all shake in it's tone has vanished. "If anyone else learns what I'm about to tell you. I'll kill them."

You don't respond. Your jaw sets and you feel mounting pressure between your teeth, it's all you can do to just nod and not respond to the threat.

"Mandragora is more than my boss. He's my father."

Edgar? The name enters your mind but never passes your lips.
"Is that right?" You manage to say managing sounding more bemused than suspicious.

"It's why I've been in the business so long. Ever since I was a kid he was getting me ready for this. To take over."

"Take over?" You echo, but it's lost in the ensuing cascade.
>>
"I was always told it was the family business, y'know? It made me feel important. I didn't like doing this. Any of this shit! But I did it because he told me I had too. I had to be strong."

You hold your tongue, the seal is broken and now you put your focus towards picking apart his every word.

"Mark. You know what it's like in more ways than one. We both deal with the voice, we both are being pushed to do things we don't want."

"What do you mean?"

"This investigation." It laughs bitterly. "This witch-hunt being pushed by Hawthorne and Reiner. Be honest, if you wanted to find me you would have done so already. Unless you've been slacking during those detective trips with Gray." It chuckles again, setting your teeth on edge. Have you been watched this entire time? Through shivers or is this bastard actually following you? Both options unsettle you equally.

"If they could just knock it off we could focus on us. If we were just allowed to work together we could fix whatever is making Gotham sick." It continues.

"Gotham's sick? That's a new one. You don't seem to be doing too well either, is it because Ma-..is it because your dad is locked up? Or is it because of the voice."

"You can tell, huh? Yeah.. I haven't been sleeping much at all. The dreams are too much for me."

"The dreams? What kind of dreams?"

"They happen every night. Most of the time I just end up waking up, it's the middle of the night and I'm soaked through to my sheets, I thought I had pissed myself. But the worst was the other night, it's why I needed to see you. To be near you."

You fight the urge to let disgust wash over your face.
"I help?"

"In more ways than you know. I don't know why it is but if we're close, it's like two signals sharing a frequency. There's just too much noise on the line for the voice to get through. It can't bother me when I'm with you." It talks about you like you're a fancy pillow that relieves a particular kink. "Honestly, it's a welcome break. The nightmare I went through last night was one for the books, the city. She's angry."

Your own mind flashes back to the strange place of mist and memory that you explored after passing out. The city in bleak grayscale, the strange figure huddled in the corner begging for mercy, the fog figures who walked the street.

"Tell me about it."

"I was in a cell. Dangling over Gotham. The whole city was...it was ruined. White ash and black monuments. Everyone was dead, I don't know how I knew that. I just did." It speaks slowly almost as if reliving the events, offering live narration. "I looked down and there was just this massive pit. The edges were touching the Harbor. It would have been taking in water if the bay wasn't as dead, white, and dry as everything else.. That pit though, it was glowing red and hazy like a volcano or something. I saw a picture once that looked a hell of a lot like it,"

"A volcano?"
>>
"Without the walls, I guess? It was a big fucking hole and it felt... evil. Gave me the creeps."

You keep the irony of such a statement to yourself and keep leading him along.
"Evil how?"

"Like it wasn't done expanding. Like it wanted more. The voice was there, when I looked into the middle of the pit the voice just came booming out. It screamed at me." It’s voice trembles like it’s hearing it again.

"What was it saying? Keep talking to me here."

"It's my fault.” It says to itself. “I didn't save enough people."

"You didn’t SAVE enough people?"

"Yeah.. I told you Gotham is sick, she has something black on her soul. Like a tumor, not to be insensitive, but it’s growing. Everyone in this city is as good as dead. But the voice tells me: 'Better they die by your hand than suffer what's to come.' and when I told it no it freaked out. It woke me up, to scream at me. Berate me. I... I saw it."

"You SAW the voice?"

"I did, I fell out of my bed and as it screamed at me it just.. it just stood there. Menacing over me. It wanted me to go out and 'save' more people." The voice loses it's steel again and begins to shake. "Mark, I'm scared. It doesn't want a person anymore, it wants PEOPLE. Whole groups. Families. The more the better. I've had to go back to my pills just to get through a day but when I sleep. I know it's going to make me go out."

"Did it make you kill the Officer today? The one you stole that uniform from, did Gotham tell you he needed to go? Or was that you?"

"What? I didn't kill anyone when I was delivering the message."

"So you just found a uniform and used it to get close to Hawthorne?"

You watch it's hand ball up and rub it's knee again.
"We aren't talking about THAT right now, Mark. I'm telling you something is coming for Gotham, end of days type of thing, and the only way to put the brakes on it is for us to work together and find out what the voice is up to."

"Have you... have you been checked out for the tumor? This could explain-"

"NO." You hear the voice come from across the way, more than a few heads turn. It curls around and dips it's head out of sight. That singular instance of him shouting has given you something to work with.

He continues in a harsh whisper.
"No.. I am not sick. I am NOT crazy."
>>
File: FallenMoonOrMaybeNot.jpg (552 KB, 1452x906)
552 KB
552 KB JPG
"I'm not saying that. I just think-"

"You just let a doctor get into your head is all. Get you to doubt yourself. But I know better, this voice, what it's telling me is coming, it's all true. It has to be.." It's final words spoken more to itself than to you.

"I understand. Let's just take a break for a second. Take a few breaths, slowly, focus on your inhale. Like you're trying to sniff the inside of your own nose." You watch it's form inflate and deflate. "Good, focus on where you are. Your feet touching the ground. The air on your skin. Center your mind."

"Yeah.. Yeah.. I'm sorry. I just really need you to take me seriously." It replies more even keeled.

"I know. You know it's in my nature to question things is all."

"I do. That's why I wanted to meet here.."

"What's so special about this place?"

"That hole from my dream? It was massive I told you, but I could tell where I was. No matter where I am in Gotham it's like I have a GPS built into my brain." It lifts a leg and taps the cobblestone underfoot. "The center of it was right fucking here. Underneath us right now."

You look down and let your awareness slip ever so slightly.

Shivers creeps over your brain in small streams, more akin to thin strands of ivy, as more sensations and images fill your head. The full moon obscured by long flat clouds, and a familiar spotlight imprinted upon them, eventually they shift and reveal the full moon in all it's glory. You watch as it dips and falls, changing texture and shape until it's a perfect sphere. A lone pearl falling from the sky until it disappears into the black waters of Gotham Bay. You shake it off and look back to see SIM leaned forward analyzing you closely.

"You back?" You hear from the speaker of the phone by your waist.

"Yeah." You say, moving a little sluggishly from that unexpectedly vivid Shiver.

"Did you see it?"

>"Yeah I saw it. You were right. Gotham is sick and we need to cure it. But I can't focus on two things at once, I need to handle the greenlight before we can tackle...that." (LIE)
>Unfortunately not. I wonder if you being near me is keeping me from seeing it, or maybe it's hiding from me. But I believe what you saw. That being said it'll be hard to help you when I'm being hunted. We need to put a cap on this Mole and Green light situation.
>"I didn't see what you talked about, but I saw.. I saw the moon fall out of the sky? It crashed into the Bay. Maybe it has something to do with your dream, we could look into it together. IF you can help me."
>"None of your business. I came to talk about bigger problems. Now, I've listened to you talk dreams but, if we're really friends I need you to step up and prove it. Help me stop the green light."
>Write-In

Anyone concerned about something they suggested not getting in yet. The chat isn't over so it'll have it's chance, I just needed to have this in here to steer things a touch.
>>
>>6030188
>>"I didn't see what you talked about, but I saw.. I saw the moon fall out of the sky? It crashed into the Bay. Maybe it has something to do with your dream, we could look into it together. IF you can help me."
>>
>>6030188
So, either both are seeing respectivly past and future, or bad and good outcome of the same thing. And considering it's comics, this shit is either cryptic bullshit or the moon (alternatively something moon looking) is really gonna fall on us Majora's Mask style.
>>
>>6030188
>>"I didn't see what you talked about, but I saw.. I saw the moon fall out of the sky? It crashed into the Bay.
He's becoming more and more unstable. We need to kill him asap. Any good ideas of how to do it here and now?
Like honestly, this shit has been going for long enough. Should have brought a gun. Should have capped him right here after screaming "stop resisting".
>>
>>6030289
>Mark brings Hawthorne's gun just to plant it on SIM
I'd die laughing.
>>
File: 1660000301217080.png (1.19 MB, 720x1000)
1.19 MB
1.19 MB PNG
>>6030289
>>
>>6030188
>"I didn't see what you talked about, but I saw.. I saw the moon fall out of the sky? It crashed into the Bay. Maybe it has something to do with your dream, we could look into it together. IF you can help me."
Remember the weird box we saw in that one dream! Bring that up! We vaguely texted "did you see it too?" to him that one time. Is there an evil cosmic nuke buried under Gotham? And all that shit that "voice" is feeding SIM is some serious manipulation, blackmail even.
>>
>>6030188
>"I didn't see what you talked about, but I saw.. I saw the moon fall out of the sky? It crashed into the Bay. Maybe it has something to do with your dream, we could look into it together. IF you can help me."

>>6030289
If his vision has truth to it, then we can't kill him yet. However, apocalyptic objects descending from space are beyond a beat cop's payroll. We need to get the greenlight stopped, then get this guy detained and questioned by the Justice League. This shit is THEIR department.
>>
>>6030188
>"None of your business. I came to talk about bigger problems. Now, I've listened to you talk dreams but, if we're really friends I need you to step up and prove it. Help me stop the green light."

Write-in:
>You said you didn’t want to do this for your father any more. Well here’s your opportunity to walk away. Take off the mask and come with me right now. You’ll be taken into custody, we can get you looked at to see what’s going on. You can tell us everything that you’ve been seeing. And you can sever your ties to the crime family forever.
>I can help you talk to powerful people. You know Bruce Wayne? I know people who can get him on the phone with you. He’s a kind man, he will listen to what you have to say.
>Hell, you know Batman? I can get you in contact with HIM. He will definitely hear you out.
>But right now you’re getting nowhere, and your green light is making it so that WE get nowhere. You’re impeding your own investigation and making us chase our own tails. Your methods are ineffective because you don’t actually know what you’re doing, you’re just listening to an ambiguous voice.

>So come with me and we can do this thing the right way. The way the Gotham I know would want it done.
>>
>>6030324
+1
>>
>>6030188
>>"None of your business. I came to talk about bigger problems. Now, I've listened to you talk dreams but, if we're really friends I need you to step up and prove it. Help me stop the green light."
>>
>>6030188
>"I didn't see what you talked about, but I saw.. I saw the moon fall out of the sky? It crashed into the Bay. Maybe it has something to do with your dream, we could look into it together. IF you can help me."

>>6030324
Yeah, I thought about that too. The box is somewhere in the cave systems below Gotham, maybe beneath Wayne Tower since SIM thinks this was the epicenter? This is probably some Apokolips bullshit or some demonic plot, either way we should probably tell Batman. This is too much for a serial killer and a psychic cop to handle.
>>
>>6030233
>>6030289
>>6030324
>>6030329
>>6030410
>>6031166
>>6030350


"I didn't see what you talked about, but I saw.. I saw the moon fall out of the sky? It crashed into the Bay. Maybe it has something to do with your dream, we could look into it together. IF you can help me."

"Mark."

"No no. Listen to me. You said you didn't want to do this for your father anymore. This is the chance to walk away. Take off the mask and come with me right now. Yes, you'll be taken into custody but part of that is getting looked at. If you aren't sick like me then let us confirm it. You'll have a captive audience to tell everything, and I'll be there to back you up."

You see the figure shaking it's head as it's hand rests flat against the knee.
"I know what you're doing, Mark. I don't blame you, you have to go back to them and let them know you tried everything you could." It sighs wearily. "It was nice to see you, Mark. You've given me a lot to think about and some peace to actually do it."

"Hey, we aren't done talking. Stay with me, let's keep talking."

"No can do, Officer. I can't be here any longer. But I can give you something more than my nightmares to take back to your department."

"Being?"

"You were right about one thing. I don't want to do this for my father, I had the thought that one day it would be all mine and the power to destroy it would be mine. But.."

"But?"

"But I think if you're going to trust me then I should trust you. He's worked hard to make this organization bulletproof, you come in through the front door they go out the back. Come out the back they go out the front. Come in both and they jump out the window. No, the only way to topple this is to bring it down on everyone's heads."

"What are you talking about? What are you planning?"

"Nothing yet. I told you I was planning a way to get out from under my father's thumb but now I'm under someone else's entirely. So while I worry about the thumb, you'll worry about the house."

"How am I expected to put a dent in something bulletproof?"

"The mole, if you can get your hands on him, I can use that."

"Use it how?" You ask, suspicion flooding your voice. This is bad, he's leading now. You glance down and see his hand now rests calmly on his thigh, his fingers tapping gently.

"Let me worry about that. Just do what you do and catch the real bad guys. Investigate Detective Meyer's little Detective club and think about this: La Russie ne boude pas; elle se recueille."

"Is that Russian? What is that supposed to mean to me?"

A chirping giggle replies to you as you see SIM stand slowly.
"This will be fun, Mark. Working together I mean. I'll make contact after you handle your mole problem."

You open your mouth to respond but you see him pull the phone from his ear and grasp it at either end. In a swift motion he separates the two halves and discards them into a trash bin. Without a look or any sort of acknowledgment he turns and begins to leave.
>>
You scramble to your feet, phone still pressed to your ear, too shocked to really be planning anything. You jog across the square and get to where he was sitting, the air feels still and damp here. Like that basement Shivers showed you, what feels like months ago, you shudder once and look to the man stepping into the crowd.

This time he does look at you, his sunglasses and mask obscure most of his appearance but stray bunches of hair still poke out from the hood. Obscured in the shadow it's hard to tell but the color seems dark, anything from dirty blonde to a pale red. It's not much but it's yet another puzzle piece. He gives you a single nod and turns his head away, shoulder completely slumped and relaxed. You feel your fist tighten around the hard plastic of the phone, the fact he could feel so comfortable pisses you off. You glance down and see the two halves of the cellphone in a bed of wet coffee grounds and half curdled whipped cream. Your brain yells at you to collect the evidence, secure this entire table, call in some favors and see what you can pull from this spot. But your gut urges you to pursue, to catch, to beat into a pulp. He's close enough you could do it if you really wanted, but that would be closing the door on whatever relationship you have with him.

Stuffing the flip phone into your pocket you..

>Push down your anger and focus on the logical. He wasn't wearing gloves so it may be possible to pull prints from the tables and chairs. Security footage too.
>Get the phone pieces, leaving them behind was a bad move on his part. If you find a tech expert you could learn a lot about where he's been.
>Take off running. He's comfortable enough to turn his back on you and that's his mistake. Odds are, he'll still see you coming before you get him but his head start will be a lot smaller.
>Sit down, your body has been tensing and releasing this entire conversation. That and this morning has just left you drained, see if Shivers can tell you anything from the seat he was in just moments ago.
>Write-In

(Feel free to select more than one if you want, obvious contradictions excluded of course.)

Hope you guys enjoyed the conversation between these two, it certainly won't be the last and it helped me get a lot of prep done for what's to come actually. Let me know what you think of the things you've learned.
>>
>>6031221
>>Push down your anger and focus on the logical. He wasn't wearing gloves so it may be possible to pull prints from the tables and chairs. Security footage too.
>>Get the phone pieces, leaving them behind was a bad move on his part. If you find a tech expert you could learn a lot about where he's been.
>>Sit down, your body has been tensing and releasing this entire conversation. That and this morning has just left you drained, see if Shivers can tell you anything from the seat he was in just mome

Tag and bag evidence
>>
>>6031221
>Push down your anger and focus on the logical. He wasn't wearing gloves so it may be possible to pull prints from the tables and chairs. Security footage too.
>Get the phone pieces, leaving them behind was a bad move on his part. If you find a tech expert you could learn a lot about where he's been.
>>
>>6031223
Supporting, though I have a gut feeling he has burned his fingerprints off his hands. I'm more curious about the phone he left behind. Did he want to leave clues? Is he stupid?
>>
>>6031223
+1

>>6031338
I think he wants this as much as Mark does. He did it on purpose in a clear mindset.

>>6031221
Somebody Russian has ties to Mandragora? Or is the mole? Something at the Detective Club where the sting happened...
Once the mole is caught, will SIM use that guy's failure as an excuse to be the new mole himself? Is that his plan to double-agent? Or is he planning to kill Angelo or set Angelo's death up somehow?
The Gotham visions. Is the evil Darkseid tech box buried under the city manipulating SIM into mass murder, which ritualistically via his Dark Shivers feeds the box below? So the voice's words about him "rescuing" innocents with murder is a blatant lie, and he's the vehicle for fuelling it instead. And once SIM kills enough and accrues enough tallies, the box detonates and all of Gotham is anti-life nuked - this explains the crater vision and the dead Gotham Bay specifically. This also explains how outraged the box voice became when SIM denied it. But how does Mark's box vision relate to SIM's situation? The box voice blaming SIM for the imminent disaster then immediately telling him it's better people die to him than the disaster is almost contradictory.

>The full moon
???
>obscured by long flat clouds
???
>a familiar spotlight imprinted upon them
The Batman
>eventually they shift and reveal the full moon in all it's glory.
???
>dips and falls, changing texture and shape until it's a perfect sphere.
???
>A lone pearl falling from the sky
Martha Wayne's death?
>disappears into the black waters of Gotham Bay
???
We are at Wayne Plaza. Are we picking up something else allegorical to Bruce Wayne himself, instead of what SIM picks up?
>>
>>6031221
>Push down your anger and focus on the logical. He wasn't wearing gloves so it may be possible to pull prints from the tables and chairs. Security footage too.
>Get the phone pieces, leaving them behind was a bad move on his part. If you find a tech expert you could learn a lot about where he's been.

No Shivers. That always backfires when SIM is involved and we’ll just get another vision of Revelations again if we try.
>>
>>6031221
>>Push down your anger and focus on the logical. He wasn't wearing gloves so it may be possible to pull prints from the tables and chairs. Security footage too.
>>Get the phone pieces, leaving them behind was a bad move on his part. If you find a tech expert you could learn a lot about where he's been.
>>
Can one of y’all DC nerds explain something to me?

So from what I’ve gathered myself, the Father Box is a neat-omnipotent computer designed to psychologically manipulate its users and can access anti-life. Which I don’t really personally understand, but I can’t find anything explaining why it would need people to be sacrificed to it.

Unless its access to anti-life has convinced it that these people really are just better off dead, and there is no greater plan.
>>
>>6031402
The Father Boxes are generally just Mother Boxes (super-advanced AI assistants) modified by Darkseid. IIRC, only one of them was a brainwashing tool, because Darkseid 'bugged' one to try to turn Orion evil.

However, and I think this may be key here: one of them was apparently gifted in the pre-Crisis continuity to Earth's first superhero and later The (Manhattan) Guardian, and became some sort of regional deity.
>>
>>6031217
>>6031374
>Somebody Russian has ties to Mandragora?
Well, no, look what I found by googling a little
>La Russie ne boude pas; elle se recueille
"Not long after his accession to office, Gorchakov issued a circular to the foreign powers in which he announced that Russia proposed, for internal reasons, to keep herself as free as possible from complications abroad, and he added the now-historic phrase, La Russie ne boude pas; elle se recueille ('Russia is not sulking, she is composing herself')." (c) Wikipedia

So I found where this quote is from and what it means, but I still have 0 clue what does it have to do with anything? Is it about Calc's operation after the sting? That they are not out of it, just preparing to strike? Any ideas lads?

>>6031221
>Push down your anger and focus on the logical. He wasn't wearing gloves so it may be possible to pull prints from the tables and chairs. Security footage too.
>Get the phone pieces, leaving them behind was a bad move on his part. If you find a tech expert you could learn a lot about where he's been.
Agreed to no shivers. They don't work on him, why bother.
>>
>>6031505
Gorchakov is a cop that we already pretty much suspected was the mole. He was doing shady shit like trying to convince Banks to kidnap a certain Bertinelli woman from her hotel room as part of some test to get a foot in the door to do undercover work. This is pretty much confirmation that Gorchakov is the rat.
>>
>>6031712
Oh right, the undercover guy. I forgot his name. Thanks
>>
>>6031223
>>6031338
>>6031374
>>6031385
>>6031394
>>6031505

The muscles in your legs twitch but a sharp inhale reminds you of the pinprick in your side from earlier. You've ran enough for one day. Feels like all you've been doing recently. You close your eyes and feel the heat of your anger starting to bloom in your chest. A sigh and a shake of the head is all it takes to shake it off, a feat that seems easier nowadays since learning meditative breathing, you make a mental note to buy something nice for Detective Jones if you ever see him again. You open your eyes again and SIM is gone, swallowed by a shifting sea of people, no time to worry about him anymore. This meeting went better than you though and as you gaze into the trash your hand drifts to where you keep evidence bags on your belt only to phase through air. You sigh again.

You step inside the small Café, more of a glorified gazebo really, and give the young woman behind the counter a tired smile.

"This is gonna sound strange but can you lend me some of those plastic bags?" You ask pointing behind the small display shelf. Donuts, muffins, and other pastries sit patiently waiting to be wrapped up and sent out.

A strange look overtakes her face as she mulls over your request, her eyes scan over your features almost suspiciously, but eventually letting loose a chipper "Yup!"

You take the bags and thank her quietly before stepping back outside and get wrist deep in garbage.

"Why throw out the grounds?" You mumble to yourself doing your best Question impression. "Because THEY want you too, the grounds have all the secrets. They just want you to think that-"

"Sir?"

A quiet voice behind you makes you jump internally but you manage to freeze. Slowly you look over your shoulder and see the same Barista from inside holding a small cup between her hands. You slowly withdraw your hand from the trash, thick dollops of old whipped cream drip off the two pieces of phone.

"I can explain this." You say to her blank stare. "I'm a police officer and-"

"I know."

"Sorry?"

"I recognized you, I wanted to give you this. On the house." She extends the cup, makes a face at your ground-caked hands and sets it gently on a table instead.

"You recognize me?"

"Yup!"

"From the papers?"

Her nose scrunches up.
"What? No."

She digs in her apron and pulls out her phone, tapping the screen as you attempt to wipe off the phone fragments and store them in a separate bag. As you tie a thick knot with the flimsy plastic she holds the phone out to you sideways. You watch a shaky video of the inside of an apartment. The camera shuffles through the house until it's pressed against a window, showing the street, from left frame you notice three familiar figures enter the shot with small wisps of fire falling around them.

"Oh." You say simply, your cheeks growing hot.
>>
"Mhm. I thought I knew you, you're the water cannon guy." She scrolls along and pulls her finger away showing a zoom in shot of you on your back, arm limply raised as your shout is heard, muffled, through the glass of the window.

"BLAST HIM WITH THE WATER CANNON!"

You watch as the smoking crumpled form of Firebug slams into the ground, the person filming groaning at the moment of impact, and you go limp on the ground to catch your breath. The camera suddenly flips revealing a slightly portly looking man with a patchy beard.

"This shit is crazy, only in Gotham, yo. These mu'fuckin police don't play." He says before a massive white arrow appears over his face.

"That was fast. That happened this morning." You say. Your eyes drifting to the corner of her screen and seeing the time. Oh fuck. The time.

You rummage through your pockets and pull your cell. Your panic makes the barista clearly nervous but you disregard her. Your fingers fly to the contacts and within two rings you hear a comforting grumble.

"Cutting it close, Rook. I was about to put out the word, what was the hold up? You two end up splitting a bear claw?"

"Something like that, it was more of a slumber party situation. Sharing dreams, braiding hair, that kind of thing."

"Uh-huh. Guess it's too much to hope you're calling to tell me he's tied to your bumper by his ankles."

"No, he's gone. But I do have a spot he sat at. Could have gotten DNA all over it." You ignore the Barista's disgusted expression. "Could you get a CSU kit and get down here?"

You grab the coffee and whisper a silent 'Thank you' to the Barista.

"Sure thing, just hold down the fort until I can get it all together. I'll be rolling in a black and white, expect me in fifteen at most."

"If you go over I'll put the call out to Batman." You say with a smile, the stress of this meeting starting to finally roll off your back, it'll be nice to have someone watching your back again. You end the call and shake your head, only to catch the Barista in your peripheral vision.

"Thank you for the coffee, ma'am." You tell her with a smile.

She eyes the table and chair like they're crawling with insects.
"Am I going to have to disinfect this?"

You laugh.
"No ma'am. When I said DNA I didn't mean.."

She stares at you, waiting.

"Like he didn't. He wasn't touching.."

She blinks a few times and you clear your throat.
"We'll handle it, ma'am."

Her bubbly expression and smile return and she nods awkwardly, her hands shifting and rubbing the phone in her grip. Despite the conversation ending she still lingers.

"Is there something else?" You ask, setting the coffee down gently. Preparing to enter full cop mode.

"Can I take a selfie with you?" She asks quietly.

>"Uh.. Sure?"
>"Absolutely, I can always make time for a citizen."
>"Sure but don't post it anywhere, alright?"
>"Oh. Sorry I'm not really comfortable with that."
>"No."
>Write-In
>>
>>6032192
>>"Oh. Sorry I'm not really comfortable with that."
>>
>>6032192
>"Oh. Sorry I'm not really comfortable with that."
>>
>>6032192
>"Oh. Sorry I'm not really comfortable with that."
Nuh uh, keep it professional
>>
>>6032192
>"Uh.. Sure?"

Why the fuck not
>>
>>6032189
>"Why throw out the grounds?" You mumble to yourself doing your best Question impression. "Because THEY want you too, the grounds have all the secrets. They just want you to think that-"
We need to get Q something nice too, but anything could be dangerous or conspiracy material

>>6032192
>"This shit is crazy, only in Gotham, yo. These mu'fuckin police don't play."
The fuck else do we do against a flamethrower dude?
>>
>>6032192
>"Uh.. Sure?"
We're already apparently all over the internet. Might as well.
>>
>>6032192
>>"Sure but don't post it anywhere, alright?"
>>
Popping in to let you guys know the next update is gonna be earlier than usual tonight actually, work is finally starting to slow down a little, so I'll be posting a couple hours earlier than I have recently. Just a heads up for anyone who'll be around.
>>
>>6032192
>"Uh.. Sure?"
>>
>>6032192
>he camera shuffles through the house until it's pressed against a window, showing the street, from left frame you notice three familiar figures enter the shot with small wisps of fire falling around them.
We are going to get posted and a villain is going to see it and will horribly maim our face and body so we become a villain
>>
>>6032192
>>"Uh.. Sure?"
Why not
>>
>>6032356
Mark becomes the Cobra for real?!
>>
>>6032192
>>"Uh.. Sure?"
>>
>>6032192
>"Oh. Sorry I'm not really comfortable with that."
This is going to fuck with our underciver work regardless, but there's no reason to huet our career by making it seem like it was an obvious, silly fuckup that blew our cover.
>>
File: 1541991253309.gif (470 KB, 200x200)
470 KB
470 KB GIF
>>6032189
>"From the papers?"
>Her nose scrunches up.
>"What? No."
>>
>>6032543
Come on man, who even reads papers in whatever year this quest is taking place in.
>>
>>6032549
>who even reads papers in whatever year this quest is taking place in
Mama DeLucia, that's who.
>>
>>6032543
One of my favourite running gags in this quest.
>>
>>6032549
I'd laugh if one of the big name villains goes "Oh hey, I recognize you from the papers!" before hitting us with a car door or something.
>>
>>6032543
This is so much cooler than being in the papers IMO.

Mark DeLucia: the meta firehose snake cop.
>>
>>6032273
The gangsters aren't gonna like it when our face is fucking everywhere and people who got busted recognize our face. We weren't wearing prosthetics last I checked.
>>
>>6032604
They already know Mark's a cop, though?
>>
>>6032619
This is true... I guess they can't begrudge us saving the mayor. Then again, that level of dedication to duty doesn't scream 'dirty cop', does it?
>>
>>6032646
Maybe if we ask for money, or tell her to say we asked for money, it'll color it a bit?
>>
>>6032646
It says here >>6024490 that they already plan to kill us if Mandragora isn't set free.
>>
>>6032646
>>6032708
I think you guys are overthinking it. You can be corrupt as shit, you still don't want to get burned alive or want people around you to get cooked. Think about it from the flip side anyway. If a NARC was doing undercover shit he'd still try to stop a psycho from killing his mob "buddies". Taking out firebug when he keeps showing up and may one day just blaze you up by happenstance is just good policy.
>>
>>6032724
It brings more attention from Calc though
>>
>>6032867
You mean more than what is already out there from the recording of Mark yelling to hose Firebug? I sincerely doubt a single selfie is going to change anything from what Calc already knows about Mark. I dunno man. It seems like a non-issue to me for all of our usual suspects.
>>
No Pictures!:
>>6032194
>>6032213
>>6032219
>>6032384

(Reluctantly) Say Cheese!:
>>6032237
>>6032273
>>6032352
>>6032361
>>6032374

>>6032563
Me too, Anon, me too.

>>6032549
20XX, Mega Man Style.


Writing. Love reading the discussion between updates.
>>
"Uh.. Sure." You say reluctantly. "Oh! But could you also get me the security footage? If you have access to that?"

"Definitely." She says while tapping her way to a photo app.

She smiles and puts an arm around your waist and you go to do the same before stopping a few inches off her waist. Your hand hovers and you start to move it up to the shoulders before stopping again. Sighing. And just letting the arm hang by your side. You give a big thumbs up and your warmest smile.

Click.

"Awesome. Thanks!" She chirps, before immediately walking away, heading for the door back behind the café counter while her thumbs fly all over her phone screen.

"No problem.. can you go and grab that footage?" You ask, mostly to yourself at this point, as you double check the knot on your 'evidence' bag, setting the phone pieces on the wrought iron table you grab a separate chair and settle down.

Your legs ache and your feet throb as you finally relax. Your hand grasps the small paper cup that spouts steam like a kettle in this October air, your cold fingers welcome the warmth as you lift the cup. The aroma hits you first, chocolate, cinnamon, and that familiar full bodied coffee. The smell makes your mind wander to Caesar and his family but you let the thought slip away as you take a drink. Thick and rich with a mild chocolate sweetness under a strong blend, maybe it's just the day you've had but this might be the best mocha you've ever had. After a few more gulps you start to notice how sore your jaw is, you've probably been clenching it all day, you knew being a cop would be stressful but you never expected to be dealing with shit like this on a daily basis. You let out a long sigh and feel your shoulders and back loosen up, the cold iron clearly felt through the thin cloth of your dress shirt, your legs splay slightly as you take a moment to truly relax.

You close your eyes and breath in the crisp autumn air, only slightly laced with smog and exhaust, you feel a shiver run up your neck. Then you feel a rough hand grasp your shoulder. Your eyes fly open and you shoot a hand out to grasp your evidence but lifting your eyes just a few inches above the baggie you spot Grey in a chair opposite of you. Amused look on his face. You swivel your head and see Hawthorne behind you, large hard case in one hand and the other firmly planted on your shoulder. Behind him Kimble smirks mischievously.

"I told you the next time I caught you sleeping I was gonna let Hawthorne handle it." He tells you with a small laugh.

"Long day?" Hawthorne asks.

You nod, still groggy.

"Well get used to em, son, cause this is our slow season." He says with a smile of his own before dropping the thick hard case on the metal table. The rattling iron grate helps to shake the stupor of sleep off you as you straighten yourself in your seat.

"Bring enough people?" You ask, rubbing dust from your eyes.
>>
"Figured it made more sense to bring em with me. We wanted to meet anyways and it isn't like I can get a Technician from the station to come help process your secret date with Bundy Jr."

"Fair point." You concede, leaning forward and grabbing your cup only to frown at the now cold liquid.

"Coffee seems like a damn good idea." Kimble says noticing your drink. "Shame we have to be here of all places."

"What's wrong with the coffee here? Seemed great to me."

"Yeah, but the problem is that a black coffee runs you twelve bucks and that's just if you want a small."

"Jesus Christ." Grey chimes in, now leaning forward and peeling a pair of blue nitrile gloves from the hard case. "Maybe we should put this little manhunt on pause and deal with the REAL crime in Gotham."

Kimble laughs and shakes his head, turning away.
"I'm grabbing some regardless. Maybe I can buzz em."

"Get me a Red Eye, I pulled extra last night dealing with the Cobblepot paperwork."

"Rat Squad giving you trouble?" Hawthorne asks, a small spray bottle and lamp in hand.

"No. and don't call em that. They're just doing their jobs."

Hawthorne grumbles and Kimble gives you a questioning look.

"Mocha." You reply to his unasked question. He dips his head and hits you with a thumbs up as he asks Hawthorne.

"What coffee do you want, old man?"

"They got Irish?"

"Not unless you brought the flask."

"Then I'll pass."

Kimble shrugs and steps away to go order. When he's out of ear shot Hawthorne and Grey both subtly lean in towards you.

"You said earlier you wanna bring Kimble in on this. We wanna know how deep you're thinking."

"How deep?"

"Do we tell him about the blunder twins?" Hawthorne murmurs.

"We just want to know if he's going to be sitting at the table the next time we meet at Jimmy's place." Grey adds, in a softer tone.

>"Hunting SIM is one thing, but working with Masks who aren't even from here? Who we know have done some very less than legal things? Kimble wouldn't be cool with that."
>"No point in bringing him in half-way, I promised him no more lies so we tell him everything."
>"What's do you think? You guys seem to have opinions."
>Write-In
>>
The Current King of QST thread is going and Mark is in the running so I've been doing some in-character posts there for Mark.

If you like the conversations between characters then there's more of that over there. I write everything as if it's happened during down time of the past threads. So please feel free to pop over there for a little extra content if you're interested.

>>6033162
>>
>>6033138
>>"What's do you think? You guys seem to have opinions."
kinda want to hear out their opinions about bringing kimble on
>>
>>6033138
>"What's do you think? You guys seem to have opinions."

Write-in:
>Kimble was the one who suggested we offer Maroni the deal that we did. I think he’d be okay with the capes.
>>
>>6033270
+1
>>
>>6033138
>"No point in bringing him in half-way, I promised him no more lies so we tell him everything."
>>
>>6033138
>>6033270
+1

>>6033171
I forgot that was a thing. Well I'm going to vote for our good old MC.
>>
>>6033138
>"What's do you think? You guys seem to have opinions."
>Kimble was the one who suggested we offer Maroni the deal that we did. I think he’d be okay with the capes.
>>
File: firebug2.jpg (1.7 MB, 2480x3190)
1.7 MB
1.7 MB JPG
>>6033128
>She smiles and puts an arm around your waist and you go to do the same before stopping a few inches off her waist. Your hand hovers and you start to move it up to the shoulders before stopping again.
Lol, Mark
>>6033138
>>"What's do you think? You guys seem to have opinions."
Evidently we know Kimble poorly. These people worked with him for a loong time.

I suddenly remembered I never finished that comic page, so here it is.
Repost because I soon as I posted I found a misplaced thumb as usual
>>
>>6033805
>fixed, triple checked
>posted
>Instantly found another mistake
my life is a comedy
>>
>>6033807
Ya gotta laugh or you'll cry.
>>
>>6033807
So it goes. Still looks awesome.
>>
>>6033805
You've got chops, anon. Thank you so much for the artwork, it's really fucking good.
>>
>>6033217
>>6033270
>>6033278
>>6033398
>>6033444
>>6033805

"I mean, Kimble was the one who suggested we offer Maroni the deal that we did. I think he'd be okay with capes."

Hawthorne shakes his head as he sprays a light mist over the back of a chair and clicks his lamp on. It glows a bright white in many spaces.

"That's different." He says grumbling as he clicks the light off and tosses the bottle haphazardly next to the case.

"How?"

"Because Kimble still plans on sticking it to that prick someday. That's how. We might have been fine letting that Huntress help us after what she pulled at Dan's Dealership bu-"

"Speak for yourself." Grey interjects, his eyes cast aside.

"What's that mean?" You ask cautiously, minding your tone.

"It means the two of you might be fine to let someone walk because they killed one of the 'bad guys' but I'm not. When this is all over I intend on taking a run at her."

"Grey.." Hawthorne mutters, a mix of disappointment and expectation.

"I don't expect you to work it with me, Mitch, and honestly it probably won't go anywhere. But it's the principle."

"The principle is we're the good guys and they're the bad guys. End of discussion."

Grey scoffs and pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Cops and Robbers? Is that really what you're going with? She didn't steal a piece of evidence we needed to put someone dangerous away."

Grey leans forward and his voice drops to a hoarse whisper.
"She fucking killed someone, Mitch, that isn't something I can ignore. It's because of her and The Question that you're looking at a fucking firing squad."

"I picked this fight. Me."

"With Mandragora, sure." He sighs. "But whatever the hell this is with Cobblepot and Calc and who knows who else. It all happened because they manipulated a rookie who wanted to prove himself on his first week!"

"Um..." You groan. Shooting a look over your shoulder you see Kimble behind the counter holding the Barista's phone taking a picture of the two of them.

Turning back around you see Hawthorne and Grey having a harsh stare down, both of them with jaws set like stone.

"The kid was just following his gut. More than you've done lately, sitting behind a desk has you getting soft."

"And the streets are making you reckless. Mark knows I'm right. Don't you, Mark? When this is all over Question and Huntress are gonna have to be held accountable."

"You don't have to answer that, son." Hawthorne says without averting his gaze with Grey.

"And you don't have to listen to him, he's not your TO anymore."

You sense this reaching a tipping point and stick your hand between the two of them, like you were breaking up hungry dogs.
"I also don't have to sit here and let you guys tear each other apart when we haven't even gotten a plan together. Do we really have the luxury of arguing over the future right now?"

Your words deflate both men as they ease back into seats. Hawthorne grumbles but Grey frowns deeply and lets out a long slow breath.
>>
"You're right, Mark. I'm sorry. I just.. it's been a really long night is all."

Hawthorne harrumphs but eventually leans back to the table reluctantly.
"Kid is right, we should be focusing on what we need to handle now. I'll drop it."

"Good." You cast another glance over your shoulder and see the steam rising as the Barista fills cups. "You both seem to be full of opinions so how about telling me what you think about letting Kimble in completely?"

"I think it's a bad idea at least for now." Hawthorne reiterates. "Kimble is an amazing officer but he's always had an issue seeing past the Black and White of being a cop."

"Meaning?"

"You know who has the highest turn around rate of CI's in the entire department. City wide."

"Kimble?"

"Bingo. He squeezes his CI's for everything they know and cuts em loose. But he keeps tabs, he calls it 'Repo day' when he goes and picks up a drug dealing CI he had a month prior. Part of their contract means he has the right to perform surprise searches and check ins."

"Is that... legal?"

"He uses cash instead of immunity or reduced sentencing for his contracts, rewards em for the info and cuts a dealer loose, now where is that money going realistically?"

You frown and just nod. You aren't sure how to feel about this.

"He believes in a gray area, but only as a parking spot until later."

You nod and look to Grey, you notice a look in his eyes too. They're sunken and blood shot, a shadowy set of rings beneath, he almost looks like he's lost weight.

"Your opinion, Grey?"

"Full disclosure, if only because he deserves the right to know what he's getting into. As far as I see it, we're too deep in the shit to possibly let anyone stand on our shoulders. All of us are going under and we need to be on the same page to do something about it." He turns those weary eyes to you. "If you're main reason for keeping him in the dark is because you're scared he'll disagree with your feelings about Question and Huntress.." He lets the sentence drift off as he sighs and shakes his head once more.

"My vote is to tell him."

"You know my stance, Rook." Hawthorne mentions. "What do you think?"

"Think about what?" Kimble's voice behind you makes the hair on your neck shoot to attention.

Grey keeps his eyes averted and Hawthorne turns his attention to digging in the hard case once more.

>"Sit down, Kimble. Remember when we said 'No secrets'? and I said there were some I couldn't share because they didn't involve just me? Well.. now it involves you too, you should know. (Truth)
>"What we're gonna do about this Green Light, my meeting with SIM gave us some new evidence. I wanted to get all your thoughts."
>"About if I can let you in on one of those secrets involving others that we talked about. I'm sorry Kimble but, I just need you to trust me on this. It's better to be in the dark."
>Write-In
>>
>>6034193
>>Write-In
"Kimble remember when I told you that I wouldn't keep any secrets from you well this kinda involves you in a way but we should talk about in a more private place."
>>
>>6034197
+1
This oughta be good.
>>
>>6034197
+1
>>
>>6034193
>"Sit down, Kimble. Remember when we said 'No secrets'? and I said there were some I couldn't share because they didn't involve just me? Well.. now it involves you too, you should know. (Truth)

>>6034197
But also, yes. In private. Not here and now.
>>
>>6033805
What the fuck is with Banks' face
>>
>>6034435
Did I had a an actual alzheimers moment? I thought he's the guy that got burnt by firebug in our first encounter?
>>
>>6034438
OH, oh right. Didn't he get a skin transplant or something though?
>>
>>6034451
I actually checked the archive and it says only his neck and shoulder got fucked. Whoops. I was reading the whole quest thinking my man got straight up two-faced
>>
>>6034455
It happens
>>
>>6034455
That's just Banks' serious face, don't worry about it :B
>>
>>6034489
When anyone asks you why something is a certain way in art, you can use the age old and unbreakable spell "It's just stylization.".
>>
>>6034197
>>6034263
>>6034316
>>6034378

"Kimble, remember when I told you that I wouldn't keep any secrets from you?"

"Yeah?" He replies as he hands a cup to Grey, you make brief eye contact and he gives you a nod of approval.

"Well this involves you in a way, but maybe we should talk about it somewhere a little more private."

Kimble looks around and lifts a hand.
"Everyone here is on a ten minute break or trying to break in the door of Wayne Tower. I don't really think-"

"Please. It's sensitive."

He sighs and shrugs.
"We can talk in the car if you want."

"That works."

"Hawthorne and I will dust this for prints then, while you talk." Grey groans as he slowly rises from his chair.

"Barista told me the footage is on an SD card, wipes at the end of the day though, there's only one so she can't pass it off."

"I've got my laptop in my car, Hawthorne."

Hawthorne grunts and rises from the case.
"Come with me to grab it, we should talk too."

Hawthorne, stoic as usual, simply starts walking off. Grey catches up to him and you and Kimble are left trailing behind with your drinks.

"Whole thing about the green light is getting to them, huh?" Kimble comments quietly.

"It's not getting to you?"

He shakes his head and sniffs.
"I'm used to people wanting me dead, Boot. Just means I have to tap back in."

"No more ladybugs?"

"Not right now at least, no." Sadness tinges his words, you feel a pressure in your chest that quickly passes.

The two of you approach Kimble's shop and pop the doors before getting inside.

"Alright. What's the secrecy about?"

You sigh and take a long sip from your drink, using the time to think of any way to explain this that might avoid making it sound too bad. But eventually you just give in and rip the band-aid off.

"I've been working with capes. A guy with no face named Question and a woman, she uses a crossbow. Huntress. They're actually the ones who set me on Mandragora's trail, SIM was an accident, I just happened to flip the right stone at the right time."

His eyebrows lift gently and he blinks a few times before taking a sip of his own.
"I'm not surprised, honestly."

"What?"

"Your edges were a little too rounded. You were too normal."

"First time I've gotten that." You mumble.

"I mean your personality. You're a nice guy, smart, driven. But people don't usually become cops cause they're well adjusted. There's all kinds."

"I know, Hawthorne gave me the speech about Honor and Duty Cops and all that."

"Then I won't worry about citing my sources." He chuckles. His eyes remain ever alert though, you can tell that this banter of his is just his way of buying time to digest what he's learned.

"You can ask me anything about it, about them, total transparency." You offer.

"Only question I need to ask is if you can tell me the whole story from the beginning. Full picture"

You sigh but nod, getting comfortable in the stiff seat, this will take a while.
>>
Through your story Kimble listens with an intense focus in his eyes, only breaking his gaze to drink from his cup, he makes no comments and never asks for clarifying details. Either your story telling skills have improved with all the practice or he can read between lines better than you can. His eyebrows go up when you hit certain parts: Nightwing aiding in the Museum assault, the meetings at Jimmy's, and when you mentioned you had Huntress hiding a young boy from the Anarkists. At other points he grimaces deeply, his eyes going matte as he maybe connects similar experiences he's had. This happens when you discuss: The first vision of SIM in the basement, the child he killed, and what you described in your dream when you had gone unconscious.

Despite his facial expressions, at points, he remains an alert and attentive listener. As you finish catching him up on the meet you just had with SIM he begins to look away, pulling out a small pad and beginning to jot some things down. He starts his page with a massive T.

"Anything else I should be in on that isn't related to SIM or your off-the-book friends?"

"I think I've pulled you in on basically everything."

"Banks know?"

"He's out of the loop, entirely."

"Don't trust him?"

"Nothing like that, he just has enough on his plate already. He has a wedding to plan and more than that he needs to focus on his recovery."

"Bit ironic coming from the guy with a tumor who just spent the morning running for his life with the guy, he's not as delicate as you think."

"I don't think he's delicate, I just.." Your words trail off. "He already got hurt for me once, when we saved Dent, if Mandragora or SIM did something to Banks or his wife then.."

He scribbles as he speaks.
"I see, only the single and most able-bodied get to help you."

"That's not what-"

"I know, Hawthorne always had a hard-on for Mandragora and Grey wasn't going to let him run it alone. They basically forced themselves in, I did too in a way."

"Bet they never thought it would get as crazy as this."

"There's a non-zero chance every shift for one of us to have to deal with something like Croc or Clayface. If anyone in GCPD is expecting things to be easy or straight forward then that's on them."

He sighs as he finishes what he was working on. You see it now, the large T topped off with two words:

PROS - CONS

He sighs looking at the notepad and stuffs it into his pocket.
"Seeing as you were a little nervous to tell me this and the old married couple ran off, I'm guessing they had some doubts."

"Grey wants to go after Question and Huntress when this is over."

"Hawthorne?"

"Enemy of my enemy."

"Crusty old bastard.." He mumbles. "He wanted me left out I'm guessing?"

You don't answer but it doesn't matter. Kimble sucks his teeth and shakes his head.
"He still treats me like I'm his rookie."

"He's worried you'd see them the same as you see your CI's."

"Yeah well, my CI's are scumbags. I make sure of it."
>>
"What?" You ask, your hairs on your neck rising.

"Not like that." He tells you with a firm hand wave. "I only pump info out of people I know are gonna reoffend, I give em the chance to prove me wrong but they never do."

"So he knew what he was talking about."

"I don't make it a secret. Other officers worry about turning the people who wanted out anyways, the addicts who need a shoulder, the people stealing and fencing just to get by. Which is fine, it's noble."

"But?"

"But I got into this for one reason, to stop bad guys and clean up my house. I'm about the numbers. I watch the yearly crime statistics that City Hall releases like the fucking Super Bowl because I trust the others to save the people who want to be saved."

"That's.. interesting." You say without giving too much away.

"Let me put it like this. My last CI was a guy named Johnny Reno, no bullshit, he was a petty mugger from out of town. One night he decides to pull a classic purse snatching, only this ain't the west coast, she fights back. Johnny beats her so bad that she fractures an orbital. When I catch him he spills his guts, he only came to Gotham because there was a Fence with a rep for giving prices a little higher. Like a scumbag lightning rod. He signs a contract agreeing to a cash reward equal to a fifth of the recovered stolen merchandise as well as a knock down from his Attempted Murder to Grievous Assault."

"The DA went for that?"

"They saw my name on the paper. They also read the small print." He states plainly. "Two weeks after we bust the Fence I catch up with Johnny at a bar in the Narrows, he gets caught with his hand in the register and broke the clause in his CI contract. His charge was bumped back up and that cash value he got never made it past the red tape brigade."

"Wow." You state simply, not sure how to feel about any of this.

"I'm telling you that because I'm a good judge of character, I know a bad guy when I see one. I know when someone's gonna re-offend. I can see it in their eyes. Look at this."

He hands you his pad and taps to CONS side with his pen.

"See that?"

The word stares at you in sharp bold lettering.
'MURDERERS'

"I need you to call them."

"Question and Huntress?"

"Yes. Call them and set up another meeting at Jimmy's."

You make a face and he rolls his eyes.
"I'm not gonna arrest them, at least not yet, but I do need to look them in the eyes. Feel them out. The Kimble Sniff Test."

He looks at you expectantly.

>"I don't think that's a good idea.. Question and Hawthorne almost came to blows once, and then they really did get into it later."
>"I don't think I can, they kind of operate independently to us. I'm not sure telling them to come to a meeting to decide if they get arrested later is really going to work."
>"I'll set it up, they're good people."
>"I'll set it up."
>Write-In

Tfw I wrote a (imo) very nice & heartfelt discussion/reveal of Mark's tumor to Kimble only to realize I did that earlier. Lmao
>>
>>6034451
It was some treatment Bruce paid for if I remember right, expirimental super rich person shit
>>
>>6035102
>>"I'll set it up, they're good people."
Is question going to fail because he is unlikely to take his faceless mask off
>>
>>6035201
He can take it partially off to only show his eyes, can't he?
>>
>>6035102
>"I'll set it up, they're good people."

Write-in: “You know, Huntress had Mandragora at gunpoint. She could have killed him, and she has just as much of a reason to kill the sick fuck as any of us. But she didn’t pull the trigger, she let us take him alive. They’re willing to play by our rules as long as we all get to bag the bad guys at the end of the day.”
>>
>>6035212
+1, and Hawthorne can back that up because he was there and Kimble KNOWS Hawthorne's history with Mandragora
Remind me again. Is Question a killer, or is it just Huntress?
>>
>>6035231
As far as you all know, Question has not killed anyone, Huntress confirmed killed a mob goon early in the quest.

Also unrelated, but seeing as we are hitting the weekend, I wanted to give you guys a little more to discuss because I'm personally finding it difficult.

BONUS VOTE(kinda)
>How does Mark feel about Kimble's method of using CI's?
>>
>>6035245
Its probably the fairest way to play it in a city like gotham. Basically catch, tag, and release and a more violent criminal would not be an informant anyway
>>
>>6035245
>How does Mark feel about Kimble's method of using CI's?
It's pessimistic to a fault and speaks to Kimble dehumanizing perps a little too easily.
I'd say it leaves a bad taste in Mark's mouth, but at the end of the day, it DOES work (as far as Mark's aware)
It's something to chew on for now, but not necessarily push back on unless shit goes sideways because of it.
>>
>>6035102
>"I don't think I can, they kind of operate independently to us. I'm not sure telling them to come to a meeting to decide if they get arrested later is really going to work."
>>"But I'll try"

>>6035212
Add this bit as well. Good character anecdote.

>>6035245
>Leaves a bad taste, but makes a certain amount of sense, so Mark can stomach it.

>>6035102
Kek, it happens
>>
>>6035212
supporting
>>6035245
>>Leaves a bad taste, but makes a certain amount of sense, so Mark can stomach it.
>>
>>6035201
>>6035212
>>6035231
>>6035285
>>6035328
>>6035590

"I'll set it up, they're good people."

"Hope you're as good a judge of character as you think you are."

"Huntress had Mandragora at gun point, you know?"

"What?"

"After the sting, when you pulled the deal with Maroni.. I won't lie to you it didn't sit right with me. I asked Huntress and Question to act as an unofficial safety net."

"If they bring him in then our deal with his wasn't broken.." Kimble says to himself, nodding. "Clever, definitely. So she had him at gunpoint?"

"Hawthorne can confirm, she had every chance to take Mandragora out and she didn't. Hawthorne hooked him up and took him away."

"Surprised the old man didn't try to kill him himself."

You keep a straight face and continue.
"She had just as much reason to kill the sick fuck. But she didn't, they're willing to play by our rules as long as we get the bad guys at the end of the day."

"What if we don't get them? Or can't Or even don't want to."

"What?"

"It's easy to trust when your goals are the same. But do you trust them to play by your rules when they aren't?" He sighs. "Look, I'm not trying to pass judgement when I tell you this, when you get in bed with dogs you get fleas. It doesn't matter how friendly, loyal, or useful the dog is. The fleas still itch. Do you really trust they'll never call in a tab? Ask you to look another way, to maybe give them intel on someone they can't get to, or worse?"

You remain silent, chewing your inner cheek in thought. Maybe in your earlier days you could see Huntress doing something like that, but now it just feels like there's too much history. Maybe it's your own bias blocking your view. Kimble nods as he notices your hesitation.

"I'm the fresh pair of eyes, and I'm always going to be on your team as long as we both have a badge."

You go to answer but look over his shoulder and see Grey's four-door approaching. You nod and Kimble glances over his shoulder, turning back as he opens the door and step up.
"You and I are good, Mark. I appreciate being let in."

He steps out and closes the door, the silence rushes into your ears as you go to step out yourself. Despite his reassurances you're left with a bad taste in your mouth, Kimble really doesn't view his CI's as people, just arrest numbers. You figure it makes sense for a veteran, especially one who saw combat, he's used to other'ing 'the enemy'. It was required to do his job effectively. As you approach the rear seat of Grey's car you wonder if what he said was true. That as long as you both have a badge you'll be on the same side, despite your ideological differences.

Settling into the seat you note that Hawthorne and Grey seem to be in better spirits, maybe they had a conversation of their own. It doesn't take long before the conversation is directed to your meeting with SIM. Kimble closes his eyes.

"I'm caught up on the assigned reading."
>>
You cover the entire meeting, remembering verbatim sentences as much as you can, until you get to a certain point.

"Say that again?" Grey probes, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Uh.. La Russie ne boude pas-"

"elle se recueille." He finishes.

"You speak Ruskki?"

"No, But I know this quote, Alexander Gorchakov."

"Gorchakov as in that little prick in Meyer's squad? Isn't he in Undercover?"

"He only joined recently." You chime in. "He was toying with Banks when he was in Undercover, basically led him into doing some shady shit."

"Like what?" Kimble asks with an eye peeping open.

"Retrieving files covertly, he called them 'field tests' told Banks if he didn't complete them he'd be out of the running for Undercover."

"Jesus, and he fell for that?" Kimble seems especially disappointed.

"He got out from under his thumb, the uh.. the attack at the museum changed his perspective a bit."

Kimble frowns and closes the eye again, but you can see by his brow he's deep in thought.

"So SIM gives you a quote that just so happens to come from Gorchakov's great grand father or whatever he is, and what? Why do it?" Hawthorne asks.

"At the end of our talk he told me he didn't want to be under the thumb of the second in command."

"Angelo." Grey chimes in.

"Right, he told me if we caught the mole it would serve towards him getting free from Angelo. He said he told me to 'worry about the house' while he handles getting around Angelo."

"Wait what?" Kimble's eyes open again. "He said what about a house?"

"He told me to worry about the house, I guess meaning their intel from GCPD?"

"Firebug. He said the same thing didn't he? Something about us building a house with rotten wood, how he was going to burn it down?"

"Do you think?"

"He could have been in contact with SIM or at least they spent time around each other?"

Grey grimaces and shrugs.
"It's a bit of a stretch, but anything is possible. SIM seems to have been Mandragora's main hatchet man for the past couple of years, the oldest SIM Card we recovered goes back about two years, it's not too crazy to think he'd be involved in whatever business Mandragora and Kal Q. Late had."

"Who better to scout for weirdos and loose screws than the meta-human assassin?" He looks to you. "No offense."

You screw up your face and show him your palms.
"Fuck yourself."

He laughs as Hawthorne smirks and speaks up.
>>
"Mole aside, how does any of this help us with the green light? SIM said he wanted to take down the organization when he got it, is that what we're betting on?"

"If it falls apart it means nobody to pay the assassins." You offer, as a devil's advocate. "No made-men to come after us, nobody to pull Mandragora out of the fire."

"Except for Mr. Q Late. It's a coin flip, he likes you plenty Mark but what's to stop him from still going after us?" Grey adds.

"Honestly, I have no idea what he's going to do. I wish my Shivers would let me get a read on him but I'm in the dark on this with you."

"I understand, I don't put it past him for this to be bullshit or a goose chase, he was at that event this morning. This could be to distract us from looking into who HE is."

"We can do both can't we?"

"Maybe, just to recap then: We all agree Gorchakov, the smug little prick, is most likely a mole?" Hawthorne asks.

A chorus of approval rises up.

"But going after him means we're furthering whatever the hell SIM is up to. Not to mention the pressure this is going to put on the department, internally and in the media. Add onto that the fact that the Rat Squ-, ahem, Internal Affairs is going to be crawling around with magnifying glass stuffing it into every crack and hole they can find."

"Meaning your guys off the book friends will need to stay far away or be invisible." Kimble mumbles without opening his eyes.

"Something like that." Hawthorne confirms.

"Awesome."

"I think that covers everything, only question is if we are going after Gorchakov and how." Grey brings up, putting his hand to his chin.

>"He tried to recruit me once, at Jimmy's, maybe I can reprise my undercover role. Approach him like I'm still dirty?"
>"He tried to recruit me once, at Jimmy's, maybe I take his offer but we keep some records of our own."
>"If we really want to do this by the book we should bring in Internal Affairs."
>"We need weight behind us to move on anything like this, what are the odds of Reiner backing us? It's his precinct after all."
>"Hawthorne, maybe we go to Gordon with this? We wanted to meet with him anyways. Two birds."
>Write-In
>>
>>6037904
>"Hawthorne, maybe we go to Gordon with this? We wanted to meet with him anyways. Two birds."
IA operates too slow, and Gordon fucking hates dirty cops with a passion. Besides, the commissioner has a right to know first in my opinion, and the right to determine how we draw the mole out.
>>
>>6037919
+1 smart move
>>
>>6037919
yeah +1
>>
>>6037919
+1
>>
>>6037904
>"Hawthorne, maybe we go to Gordon with this? We wanted to meet with him anyways. Two birds."
>>
>>6037904
>>"Hawthorne, maybe we go to Gordon with this? We wanted to meet with him anyways. Two birds."
>>
Minor Delay in update, it'll just be an hour and some change.

>>6037919
>>6037929
>>6037943
>>6037957
>>6038155
>>6038493

Unanimous Gordon is locked in.
>>
>>6037919
>>6037929
>>6037943
>>6037957
>>6038155
>>6038493

"Hawthorne, maybe we go to Gordon with this?"

"Gordon?" Grey and Kimble say simultaneously.

"We wanted to meet with him anyways, this kills two birds."

They look to Hawthorne who is already nodding, not acknowledging their stares.
"In for a penny.."

"You two have a line to the commissioner?" Kimble asks.

"We three." Grey corrects. "Hawthorne and I were in the department when Gordon came in."

"So what you can just call him up?"

"Nope, just means he'll know my name. The kid is our middle man." Hawthorne grumbles.

"Shit, DeLucia. What's got you close to the commissioner?"

"Not my secret." You reply simply. Kimble gives you a frown but lets it go.

"Well if you two are chatting to Gordon, anything you want Grey and I covering?"

"Nuh uh." Grey says quickly. "Only thing I'm covering is myself, at home. I need to sleep."

"You should get some rest too, Kimble. The morning we've had, I know I'm dying for a break." You offer.

"I think I'll pull a shift, this morning has me amped still."

"You were just sleeping."

"Power-nap, Boot. You'll learn the art eventually. Speaking of, good work on the CI you picked up."

"Not to break up the hug circle but can you all get the hell out of my car so I can go home?" Grey says half-joking from the front seat.

A mixture of playful chiding from Kimble and some mumblings about age and attitude from Hawthorne fill the car as they each open their doors and step out. You stay behind for a brief moment and give Grey a pat on the shoulder.

"Good work with Cobblepot, Grey. Get some sleep, you earned it."

He smiles weakly and nods.
"Good luck with Gordon, Mark. And you should be proud, you did the right thing telling Kimble."

You give him a forced smile and nod, not able to voice the little part of your mind that whispers: 'I hope so'

I was able to squeeze this in, second part to this update will come in a bit. Use this time to idk, make up some more fun facts about Mark that I can canonize.
>>
>>6038790
Fun Fact: Mark speaks fluent Swahili and was a Vtuber back in College
>>
>>6038830
-1
>>
>>6038790
Fun fact: Mark fucking sucks at Uno
>>
>>6038790
fun fact: Mark knows how to make traditional italian pizza due to his grandpa teaching him
>>
>>6038830
I could never make a character of mine a VTuber Fan.

>>6038911
>>6038850
Canon!

I actually ended up running into a problem when I got home guys, update may still come but it'll be far later than normal. This will not change tonight's update however, that will be on schedule if not a little early.

Feel free to suggest more (non-VTuber related) random trivia about Mark for me to canonize.
>>
>>6038912
Mark greatly enjoys the old seasons of NCIS when the main cast was together. Thinks the new ones dont match up with dinozzo and the rest gone.
>>
>>6038912
fun fact: Mark thinks ture detective (season one) is the greatest shhow of all time
>>
>>6038790

You and Hawthorne climb into your car without much conversation, each of you seemingly preoccupied with your respective ponderings, but it's about half-way through the drive that he speaks to you.

"How're you holding up, kid?"

"Sir?"

"Mentally. It's been a rough couple of weeks."

"Just trying to focus on the problem. How to solve it, mainly."

He grumbles and looks out the window.

"Any reason, sir?" You ask.

"Ah no just Grey bellyaching."

You don't say anything, letting the sentence linger until Hawthorne is forced to continue.
"Not that he has no point, I mean we're both pushing retirement, but it isn't like we didn't know what we were signing up for."

"Grey is worried about the green light?"

"Hard not to be. I told him that it'll be handled, but he was being a real stubborn son of a bitch."

"Nobody likes being told their life is in danger, sir."

"That's the thing, Mark. He didn't bring himself up once."

"What?"

"He was more worried about us. Told me I couldn't afford to be taking risks like this anymore, I told him it was rich coming from a guy who went to arrest Cobblepot alone."

"Well.. you did go after Mandragora too."

"Not alone I didn't."

You hold your tongue on the fact that he argued against involving Question and Huntress.

"He's been acting strange ever since you two had your trip to City Hall. Going after Cobblepot was something Kimble would do, not Grey."

"You think something is up?"

"Honestly, rook. I was hoping you'd tell me. You've spent more time with him alone than I have recently. He say anything to you? Or you notice anything strange?"

>Bring up the pills you saw in your Shivers Vision. "I think he's sick.."
>"Could just be he's realizing you guys aren't in your twenties anymore. Maybe he had to prove to himself he still had what it took."
>"I don't know, he's been acting strange with me too. Unfocused, always reminiscing, his head isn't in the game."
>"I think he's getting to the end of how much he can put up with. Grey has played by-the-book most of his career and then I turn up and everything starts going to hell. He's probably just overwhelmed."
>"Nothing, he's been teaching me some tricks. Asking me a lot about my opinions, I think he's just worried about us. We're his friends after all."
>Write-In
>>
>>6038990
>"I remember mentioning you made the switch from cigarettes to sunflower seeds to Grey. He was surprised, but kinda smiled about it..."
>"Which would make more sense with what I "saw" him cough up when he caught up with Cobblepot..."
I'm pretty sure Hawthorne knows about the cancer and didn't want to make a big deal about it with Grey.

>>6038912
>Feel free to suggest more (non-VTuber related) random trivia about Mark for me to canonize.
Mark went into wrestling because he tried to do backyard wrestling as a teen with his friends but was stopped by his dad. He put him into the school wrestling program to show him how to wrestle properly without jumping onto a bed of fluorescent lightbulbs from his sketchy friend's shed roof.

Also, Mark's conversationally fluent in Italian, and is thinking about picking it up again.
>>
>>6039010
supporting
>>
>>6039010
Thought up a possible Nonno DeLucia factoid…
Nonno’s cannoli are often remembered fondly in Gotham’s Little Italy neighborhood. Local legend has it he convinced one of the mafia families to take his cannoli recipe in lieu of protection money for his friend that month. After the head of the family tried it, he said it was payment enough in perpetuity for both him and his friend, and promised to keep it within the family.

And here’s an absolutely non-canon vtuber one because I’m being a jackass.
Mark is surprisingly well known in the vtuber community, thanks to a relatively well known female one seeing the selfie he took with the barista and the Firebug video, and screaming to her chat about how her “ovaries hurt” from watching it.
>>
>>6039010
+1
>>
>>6038990
>Write-in
>>"He's been teaching me some tricks. Asking me a lot about my opinions, I think he's just worried about us. We're his friends after all... And maybe he's thinking about succession, after he's retired?"

Canon lore: Mark owned a tiny ball python in college.
>>
>>6039249
or maybe... a cobra!!
>>
>>6039294
Now now, let's not reduce Mark's entire character to a meme.
>>
>>6039238
>and screaming to her chat about how her “ovaries hurt” from watching it.
This feels like something I'd see from Kirsche or Pippa
Is it?
>>
>>6039343
No to both, although I can see the Yabbit in the role. When I picked the vtuber, I just thought to myself, “Which one could like men in uniforms who use weapons, be really loud and over share her thoughts, is a pervert, would make Mark deeply uncomfortable when being hit on while he was trying to be a professional, and would prove DetectQM’s opinions on vtubers absolutely correct with one poorly chosen video?”

So I went with Bao the large assed chronic onanist couch ruiner.
>>
>>6039343
>>6039406
>>6039238
>>6038830
>vtumors
>>
>>6039442
Not even once.
>>
>>6039442
kek.
>>
>>6039442
>Mark’s tumor starts talking to him psychically
>It sounds like a twenty something year old woman doing a voice to sound like she’s younger
>Her character theme is cancer, tumors, medical and body horror, and acts like a NEET
>Talks through Mark’s mind like she’s playing a mix of the Arkham games, L.A. Noire, the Batman Telltale game and Sam and Max games, depending on the current situation
>Chat she talks with is just random background thoughts floating through the psychic either
Thanks for the idea, pal! Wonder if I can sell this concept character to PhaseConnect…
>>
File: vtumor.png (226 KB, 850x503)
226 KB
226 KB PNG
>>6039442
now that's clever
>>
>>6039406
Never heard of Bao before desu but I don't watch much Vtubers
>>
>>6039474
Actually, that's a hilarious idea
Hey QM, can we get something like this in an omake or something?
>>
>>6039474
>Chat show me this guy's balls
>>
>>6039550
I know her from a video when she watched an animation a fan made of her meeting Blaidd for the first time in Elden Ring. The voice I had in my head for the hypothetical vtuber was her, literally screaming “I NEED TO BE BRED!! I NEED TO BE BRED!!!”.

She has admitted to her friends and coworkers that she has pleasured herself on one of their couches (possibly repeatedly??), which is now known as the goon couch because of it and other situations. Said friend had once pleasured herself with an electric toothbrush she “borrowed” from her mother’s friend. Which she returned.

She is also known to have fan art of her as a Willy Wonka goddamn blueberry and has a button to inflate herself as one, and has a thing for Ghost from CoD. And also wolves.
>>
>>6039593
Anyways, back to our comic book inspired police officer quest...
>>
>>6039010
supporting this
>>
>>6039010
>>6039085
>>6039242
>>6039602

Votes counted.

Canon count:
>>6039010
Both Canon! (I planned on the knowing Italian bit, his grandfather taught him.)
>>>6039238
Canon! (But only in the sense that's an old story his grandfather would tell him as you said, but his dad has never backed down on if it was true.)

>>6039249
Canon! (I have an albino cornsnake myself so the idea of him having the snake it nice. He left it with an underclassmen he knew when he graduated.)

>>6039551
The loosest maybe of all time, I'm not sure if I'm capable of writing that to your expectations.

>>6039597
I couldn't agree more, anon.


For reasons entirely unrelated to me learning more about VTubers than I'd have liked, Canon Additions are now closed again. Thank you to the people who helped add a little more flesh to Mark's character and history. Update coming soon.
>>
File: livestrelokreaction.gif (501 KB, 220x176)
501 KB
501 KB GIF
>>6039593
>>
"I remember mentioning you made the switch from cigarettes to sunflower seeds to Grey. He was surprised but kinda smiled about it."

"Smug prick." Hawthorne mumbles without a trace of negativity.

"It makes more sense with what I saw."

"You saw something?"

"When I was in the ambulance, after I led you to Mandragora, I reached out through the city until I found Grey. I watched him go after Cobblepot, right before he got out though he uh.." You hesitate but figure if anyone was going to know what was going on already it would be Hawthorne.

"I saw him hock up something nasty, thick and dark. I don't know if it was just gunk or blood. I don't know."

Hawthorne sighs, you see his tense shoulders relaxing as he shakes his head.
"Ah, you fucking liar."

"Me!?"

"Unclutch your pearls, I'm talking about Grey." Hawthorne sighs deeply. "He's been sick for a few months now, since before you joined the precinct. It wasn't too bad at first. Reiner okay'd him forgoing medical leave and staying at the desk or being the CSU's on-call."

"He isn't getting treated?"

"He is, just not as often as he should. He's on the pills instead of the IV and whatever the hell else they plug you up to."

"Jesus Christ, so it's.."

"Cancer." Hawthorne states flatly, but his voice has a hollowness to it. His eyes go distant as he talks. "It's funny. I'm the one who got HIM into the habit, we uh.. we found a pack my dad had thrown out one night, he'd spilled something on em and chucked half a pack in the trash, we were fifteen years old. Smoking cigarettes out of the trash because it made us feel more grown up."

You smile a bittersweet smile. You can actually feel the ache in Hawthorne's chest within yours, there's guilt. Longing for a time passed. The anxious pressure of what comes after the inevitable.

"If that isn't the most Gotham thing you've ever heard, eh kid?" Hawthorne asks with a raspy chuckle. "Joining up didn't do anything to slow us down either, soon as we both got out of Rookie shoes we put in a request to pair up. Every friday he came over for dinner with Suzanne and I."

"Sounds nice, sir."

"Yeah." He replies dreamily. "Time goes fast already, Mark. But in Gotham sometimes it really is like a blink of an eye."

"So even though he's sick he still asked Reiner to stay at the precinct?"

"Don't let him fool you. He crows on and on about how I take the job too personally, how I'm the one who needs to take a step back, but he's.." He stops himself, you feel a twinge in your chest. There's that guilt again.

"What?" You ask, unable to stop yourself.

"He's got nothing outside the job. All his friends are cops, when he's home he focuses on work, when we get together it's with other cops and all we talk about is the job and the past."

'Maybe that's all we have left for us..' You hear echo in your head. A thought not yours. Your hands tighten on the wheel as stark fear hits you, it's a horrifically uncanny feeling.
>>
"Don't go telling him I talked to you about this, a man's business is his business."

"Of course.." You reply, only half paying attention to him now as you sit on high alert for another intrusion. Your heartbeat thuds in your ears as you struggle to calm yourself down from the surprise.

"I'm worried about him. This shooting with Cobblepot, it's not good."

"Huh? Sorry, the shoot wasn't good?"

"No, it was a good shoot. Nobody is saying he did anything wrong here, but when the rat squad gets a hold of his paperwork and see that Reiner authorized him staying on the active roster while he's sick? Their gonna ask the obvious question.."

"Why was he there to begin with?"

"Exactly, he was ordered to only operate in support roles or no conflict investigations. Him going after Cobblepot was.."

"a bad call?" You offer.

"It was fucking stupid, is what it was."

You nod and keep your eyes on the road, ahead of you a wooden barricade with yellow stripes awaits, GCPD officers guard the streets approaching City Hall. You dig out your badge and Hawthorne passes his with ID over to you, a quick flash gets you the go ahead as two younger officers move it aside for you to pass.

"So do you think Grey will end up losing his job?"

"I don't know. Reiner is gonna have a lot of explaining to do with King Cheese."

"King cheese?"

"Thomas Provo, he's the head of Dent's reformed IA branch, he was GCPD public enemy number one for a while. He was a criminal prosecutor before dropping from his big name firm and doing Public Defense for a few years before Dent offered him the job."

"Internal Affairs isn't even led by a cop?"

"An Officer leads Internal but Provo oversees the entire thing, unilateral authority."

"Shit."

"Mhm."

You put the car into park as you both unbuckle and mentally prepare yourselves.

"This is gonna be a hard sell, son. You're the one who had the 'bonding moment' so I'm leaving it up to you to do the talking."

"Fair enough.." You reply uncertainly.

Hawthorne leans over and gives you a reassuring slap on the shoulder, he looks you in the eyes briefly and gives you a curt nod.

>Say anything else to Hawthorne before you head in? (Write-In)
>Nod back and head inside. It's time to talk to Gordon.
>>
>>6039677
>>Nod back and head inside. It's time to talk to Gordon.
"In for a penny, in for a pound. Lets do this."
>>
>>6039677
>>Nod back and head inside. It's time to talk to Gordon.
>>
>>6039681
+1, it's go time
>>
>>6039681
+1
>>
>>6039681
+1
>>
>>6039681
+1

>>6039677
>>
>>6039681
+1.

Wish we weren’t the only one to have seen Grey’s capture of Cobblepot. Hawthorne would have loved to see it, probably say it was from out of a film noir.

A little too late for trivia, but Mark still has his collection of Detective Conan manga hidden deep in his closet in a cardboard box underneath old winter clothes he no longer wears.
>>
>>6039662
>I'm not sure if I'm capable of writing that to your expectations.
Write it anyway, I wanna see what you make
>>
>>6040214
>One day we're interrogating a politician type
>In the back of our head, a cutesy female voice says in a fake male noir rasp, "You fuck young boys, Valdez?"
>It turns out later the suspect does indeed
>>
Mark was once PERSONALLY victimized by Regina George.
>>
File: DebReadin.jpg (16 KB, 193x233)
16 KB
16 KB JPG
>>6039681
>>6039687
>>6039745
>>6039753
>>6039882
>>6040005
>>6040085

"In for a penny, in for a pound. Lets do this."

Hawthorne just gives you a sly grin and his eyes have the faintest shine of pride, or maybe respect.

You both enter through the massive doors, the towering figures on either side of the door feel, almost, like they're staring you down. Watching your every step with a cold calculated logic. Suddenly you realize it's coming from everywhere, the clouds of Police, Security, and City Employees. The unblinking black eyes of CCTV cameras in the corners. Your hair stands on point, you are being watched by every one here. With a sole exception.

You beeline straight for the desk towards the only person not paying you too much mind. A mousey woman reads a soft-cover book at the front desk. 'Grave News' reads the title. Your tight stomach relaxes when you notice a familiar name engraved into a near copper nametag shines out to you: Deborah.

"Deb?" You ask as you approach, pointing a finger from your hip.

"Oh? I'm sorry do I know you?"

"Uh.. no ma'am. But I am a friend of Detective Bennett."

"Thomas?" She asks, quietly.

Hawthorne coughs. Or maybe that was a laugh? Deb's eyes flick to him and you see her expression shift to one you'd expect to see on an older sister seeing her younger brother.

"Hello Mitchell." She says dryly.

"Deb." He replies in kind with a half nod.

"Yes ma'am." You tell her giving Hawthorne very pointed eyes. "I work with Grey, maybe you remember me from a while ago? We came to-"

"Tear through the file room?" She asks, her pleasant soft look replaced with barbed accusation.

"Uh? Ah.. Well I didn't mean to." You stutter out.

"I bet." She replies with a huff. But her shoulders relax. "You two are just lucky the Mayor is such a softie."

"Oh?"

"Mhmm. He helped me clean it up himself."

"That's awful kind of him." Hawthorne offers up, but his words are laced with suspicion.

"I hope the next Mayor is as good to me as Mr.Dent. Not many politicians care about the little guy, y'know?" Her eyes lilt downwards to her book.

"Well I'm glad and I just want to apologize on Grey's behalf."

"Accepted, but tell him he owes me something to eat."

"Will do ma'am. I'm actually hear today on some business."

"Well I don't know if you've seen but this place is currently locked down. Mayor Dent has cancelled all appointments and I'm not to let anyone in to see him."

"Of course, I understand. I was actually wondering if it would be possible for me to speak with the Commissioner?"

"Commissioner Gordon?" She asks.

"Who else.." Hawthorne mumbles in a gravely tone. You nudge him and he sighs.
>>
"Yes Ma'am."

"Regarding?" She asks you pulling up a phone, it's spiral plastic cord twisting around her index finger.

"Uh..it's confidential?" You offer.

Her eyebrows knit together in a very clear display of: Are you kidding?

Hawthorne leans in and smiles with all the charm of an old mobster.

"Listen Deb.. this is a sensitive matter. The lobby is full of people and we just don't need anyone else getting involved in our business."

"Well my business is making sure nobody gets their time wasted."

Hawthorne grumbles and pulls out his phone, he taps the screen a few times and turns it around.

Her eyes shift downwards and her mouth goes agape ever so slightly.

"You have a reservation at La quête?"

"I know a guy." Hawthorne offers, his voice weary. "I have a reservation for the same time every year. Check the date."

"How!?" She gasps.

"I know a guy." He repeats. "Grey already offers you a bite to eat so why not have him take you somewhere nice? One of the best steaks in Gotham, a glass of wine, Christmas Eve. Tell Gordon that Hawthorne and his Rookie are here to see him. Tell him I said it's important."

You lean forward and tap Hawthorne's shoulder, he holds up a finger, he leans back and you whisper into his ear as he nods. He turns back around and adds: "Tell him we're trying to put a leash on smoke."

Deb's look is confused but she can't stop the glancing down. Surely without anymore words her finger hooks inside the rotary circle and she dials. You're almost impressed by how new this phone looks despite being clearly out-dated. She relays your message verbatim and then takes a slip of paper and begins jotting.

"Mhm.. Yup." She says absent mindedly, her eyes sometimes pulling from the paper to check the phone as if it might run away. She writes one last thing and then underlines it harshly. She hangs the phone on it's receiver and puts the note in her pocket. She turns her eyes to Hawthorne and through a smug smile says:

"The Commissioner is ready to see you, up the stairs and take a right. His is the office at the end of the hall."

"Thanks, Deb. This reservation is yours, you have my word."

"I know, Mitch. I know." She waves a hand as she leans back into her seat and pulls her book back up.

Hawthorne turns to you and once again you feel something just from his gaze, something inside, a piercing almost tearing pain in your chest. Faint and pin-point small but still enough to cause discomfort.

"Ready?" He asks you after a heavy breath.

"It's go time." You reply firmly.

You both head up the marble stairs, reach the landing, and begin the long walk to Gordon's office...

====
For the upcoming section refer to >>6027227 for proper voting etiquette.
>>
>>6040477

====

[Conversation Attitude]
>Gordon is your last hope, you need to make that clear to him. No matter what the cost of his help is you need to accept it.
>Gordon is your last hope, but you can't let him see you flailing in the wind after he just put confidence in you before the sting. Downplay the severity but really push for his help.
>Gordon is a cop, this is about catching bad guys. Appeal to this sense of brotherhood and push for him to help you as one cop to another.
>Tell Gordon everything because at the end of the day, even if you're working with Vigilantes, who is he to lecture you? His work with Batman is the same thing, a greater good, if he refuses to help you he's just a hypocrite.
>Write-In

>General

>Verbatim

====

If you're new to the thread or just missed the first time we did this, it's my equivalent of a system for 'Social Boss Fights' I guess. I expect this conversation could end up being quite lengthy so I'm using this voting format to ensure the most bases player's want covered can be covered and it helps serve as a general guideline for how Mark will respond in the dialogue. For a more detailed breakdown please visit the post linked in my previous post.
>>
>>6040478
What do we know about this universes gordon?
>>
>>6040478
>Gordon is a cop, this is about catching bad guys. Appeal to this sense of brotherhood and push for him to help you as one cop to another.
>General: Lay it all out for him, everything except the tumor. SIM, the greenlights, the mole, the masks. Even Dent and Firefly. And...hesitantly mention the specific visions you've had and that SIM has shared. Anything could help.
>Verbatim: "We came to you because there's nobody better in all of Gotham. Nobody we can trust half as much with this information, and few who would know the right thing to do with it all. Gotham's under your watch, Commissioner, so we felt it should be your call. What are our orders?"
I'm not the best at this.
>>
>>6040478
>>Gordon is your last hope, but you can't let him see you flailing in the wind after he just put confidence in you before the sting. Downplay the severity but really push for his help.
Floundering, even if we're desperate, still kinda makes us look bad. Besides, if we weren't confident we could settle this case, why bother going to Gordon at all?
>>
>>6040478
>Tell Gordon everything because at the end of the day, even if you're working with Vigilantes, who is he to lecture you? His work with Batman is the same thing, a greater good, if he refuses to help you he's just a hypocrite.

Is there a batgirl in this universe,and if so, does gordon know his own daughter is a vigilantie?



[Advertise on 4chan]

Delete Post: [File Only] Style:
[Disable Mobile View / Use Desktop Site]

[Enable Mobile View / Use Mobile Site]

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective parties. Images uploaded are the responsibility of the Poster. Comments are owned by the Poster.