Double

Gotham City Reborn

"That's a new one on me, kid." Zero heard Grant's gruff response, but had no time to say anything else before he realized that at least two of the people down there were the cape-wearing variety. A boy and girl? It was hard to tell from this distance, but one of them definitely seemed more feminine, having a smaller frame than either the boy or cop seemed to indicate as much. Speaking of the possible girl, she fired a grappling gun of all things and climbed her way up to the roof across the road. Where or how she obtained a thing like that was the least of Zero's questions, as her climb gave Zero the opportunity to notice a subtle unevenness in her movements. Was she injured? Again, it was difficult to say for sure from this distance.

When Zero's figure suddenly sprinted to the edge of the roof and made a quick jump, Grant's gruff voice barked in his earpiece, "The hell are you tryin-" but it quickly became clear what he intended. Rather than actually make a full jump, Zero created a small structure below his feet, one that resembled a ski-ramp of sorts. Letting the slick of the ice build up his momentum, he used that to just barely make over to the roof across the street. As per usual, the ramp he made quickly melted into water that dropped down to the streets below once Zero's feet left it. Now finding himself getting a much better look at the girl, who at that point was lying on her back and staring up the sky, Zero could tell she was injured without a doubt.

"Hey there, you look like you could use a doctor." Zero said to her, making sure he could heard if his presence wasn't already known to her. He couldn't tell her age thanks to her mask. Speaking of that, Zero made sure his eyes emitted a icy blue glow so as to help hide his own identity since his mask didn't cover his whole face like hers appeared to, "I can get you to someone who can patch you up without taking off your mask if you like, that is, if you don't mind trusting me for a bit."

"Hey! Don't even think about-" a gruff voice could be audibly heard even from those not wearing Zero's earpiece. Yeah, Grant was that loud. However, Zero switched it off before the voice could finish whatever their protest was going to be.

"Um... ignore him. He may be a bit of a cranky old man, but I promise he can patch you up if you need it." Zero smiled, trying to be as sincere as possible. Naturally it was difficult earn the trust of another who wore a mask for a reason, but still, that didn't mean some of them couldn't become friendly if they just tried. His earpiece started beeping in his ear, though only he could hear it. Grant was trying reopen their communication. So, Zero switched it on and turned away briefly.

"What now? I'm trying to-"

"Get your ass over to Midtown, pronto! Scanner just picked up a robbery in progress at S.T.A.R. Labs, and someone mentioned a sudden case of overgrown weeds all over the place. Sound familiar?"

Zero turned back to address the girl again, "Looks like I'm needed in Midtown. Just... try not to overdo it too much, okay? There's a place in Midtown, a gym called "Grant's Proving Ground". Like I said, he's a crabby old man but he'll patch you up if ask him nicely. Be careful out there!" that last bit, Zero had to raise his voice a bit since he'd already taken off, using a similar means to get around to the other roofs, all while making his way in the direction of Midtown, destination: S.T.A.R. Labs.

Gotham City Reborn

Posted. How low-profile is Kyle? I mean could other vigilantes like, say, Wildcat have heard of him? I mean cops with powers aren't exactly a common thing after all, at least not in Gotham.

Gotham City Reborn

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Gotham City ~ Devil's Square

Devil's Square was never the exactly the most fun part of Gotham, but tonight that was especially true from the looks of it. Walls and signs all over were plastered with green question marks, and usually some very cryptic questions along with them. There was no doubt it was the Riddler's work, the question marks alone were a dead giveaway. Something wasn't right though. Many of the question marks and riddles looked hastily made, and almost all of them had the answer or a clue to the answer tagged underneath them. No way someone as meticulous and egocentric as the Riddler would be so sloppy, and he sure as hell wouldn't give away the answers to his own riddles like this either.

"Looks like the police scanner wasn't lying, something weird is going on in Devil's Square." a young man spoke into an small earpiece he wore. He was on the roof of one of the small corner businesses, it's billboard tainted by a giant green question mark. Below that, again in green paint, a riddle was posted:

My first is often at the front door.
My second is found in the cereal family.
My third is what most people want.
My whole is one of the united states.

What am I?

A puzzling riddle, or at least it would have been one if the answer wasn't plainly painted under it in black. The answer, incidentally, was apparently "matrimony" according to the graffiti, with even a short explanation in brackets: (mat + rye + money = matrimony)

"It's definitely Riddler's handy work, but why would he give away the answers like this?" it was puzzling to the young man, who was called Zero. While he'd never personally fought with Riddler before, the self-proclaimed enigmatic genius was one of Gotham's top dog criminals for a reason, not only for going up against the Batman himself, but for managing to give the Caped Crusader more of an intellectual challenge than any before him. Just adding the answers to his own riddles didn't fit his M.O. at all.

"He wouldn't." a gruff voice responded from the earpiece, "Someone's egging him on, which means twice the trouble. This may not have been such a hot idea, kid, maybe you better-" the old man the voice belonged to didn't get to finish his protest.

"No way. If Batman really is... gone... then someone needs to help pick up the slack. He would have done the same." Zero then muted his communications before the old man could start chewing him out. He approached the edge of the roof as he did so, letting his neck crack a bit before adjusting the settings for his chill gloves. A utility of Zero's suit, these gloves emitted a coolant that helped chill his ice even further, adding to its toughness and making it harder to melt. The suit as a whole was a gift of sorts, a favor his "mentor" called in from an old friend of his from some tech company called Cyberwear.

"So... if someone's trying to outdo the Riddler, I can probably assume they have the same M.O., which means they could be holed up anywhere. Where to start - huh?"

" GCPD! Raise your hands up and don't make any sudden movements! "

An alleyway by a building across the street suddenly seemed to spring to life with action, made far more noticeable by the apparent police officer making his presence known. The gunshots that soon followed certainly didn't help ease any of the tensions either and Zero prepared to spring into action. If it was just some goons then he could handle it no problem, having dealt with worse by this point in his career. But he stopped when the cop literally worked some magic to capture the thugs.

"Hmm, well color me intrigued." Zero said to himself under his breath. He switched his earpiece back on and spoke into it, "Hey Grant, you know anything about a cop with powers?"

Gotham City Reborn

So is it just questions marks that have plastered everywhere in Devil's Square or are actual riddles tagged in some places as well?

Gotham City Reborn

@Pirouette@The Kid LanternAs tempting as Croc is, I think Pirouette makes a good point about it being more interesting if it were a player's character.

In this case, Ying could have tango'd with Zero before Batman's death, maybe he helped plant the seeds of "Am I doing the right thing?" that Batman's death helped inspire?

Gotham City Reborn

@PirouetteOkay, are you offering Jing Yan for that part? <_<

@The Kid LanternIsn't Killer Croc a bit too high in the tier list for Zero to have defeated on his own?

Gotham City Reborn

I'd like to add a storyline to my character, and while I have a vague idea for it, I'm stuck on a few details. Basically I want Zero to have defeated a villain of his own at some point in his career, and now they're back and want revenge. The trouble I'm having is the villain itself. Should be original? A re-imagined canon villain? I have no idea and if anyone wants to shoot me a suggestion I'm all ears.

Gotham City Reborn

Zero could potentially get involved with the storylines since his own isn't meant to happen for a while yet.

Gotham City Reborn

Considering Arkham is, like, the easiest prison in the world to escape from, even if he did get caught it wouldn't be long before he was at large again. :P

Gotham City Reborn

@Double Well, looks like Ivy has a hard counter.

@t2wave

Not necessarily. Some species of plants can grow/bloom in the winter so she'd probably only need to use those against him to even the odds.