2018-04-28 Kidnapping...and Ransom

Linda was at a Gallery, doing sketches and promoting her art. Sort of like a book signing, only for an artist. So she was in full public view and was unable to react when one of those entering the Gallery was suddenly grabbed and pulled into a waiting car by two men in ski masks.

Linda did two things she could do, she wrote down the license number of the car and did a quick sketch of the woman grabbed. She did one of the car too, though that may be less useful. By the time she got out of the crowd, the car was long gone.

Nightwing had been in town on Wayne business with STAR labs, but as normal he had been monitoring local police band, after all crime never stops so neither does a good vigilante. Once he hears of the kidnapping he heads to the gallery. First thing he does is check the tire tracks and get pictures of them so they can start to narrow down the vehicle.

Linda espies Nightwing on the scene and goes up to him as Linda, saying, "Nightwing, I recall you from your time as a Titan. Perhaps these could be some use." They are very good color pencil sketches of the girl and of the car, showing the color, make, and model and a partial plate (first three or four digits or letters).

Nightwing turns as the sound of his name and he smiles, "Thanks." his gaze lingers on Linda for just a bit before he takes the drawing and he adds, "Theses should help a lot." he gets on the comms to Alfred by the Bat computer he gives the man the partial plate number and the size of the tires to help narrow things down. He asks Linda, "So what did you see?" He adds, "Any idea why this happened?"

Linda states, "I saw two men in dark coats and blue jeans wearing blue and red ski masks jump out of a parked car and grab the girl in the picture, pulling her into the car. They drove off down that road (she points). I can not say why, but they did seem to be waiting especially for her not grabbing someone at random." She takes out a pencil and quickly sketches two men standing beside the car to give an idea of scale. Both are large and quite muscular. She adds, "There must have been a Driver I did not see as well."

Nightwing looks closely at the sketch, "Well you might not realize it but you have answered one of my questions." He shows her the one she drew of the girl, "This is the daughter of one of the scientists at STAR labs so I would bet it has something to do with her work. He stands up, takes a couple of pictures of the tire tracks, and checks to see if any loose debris might have come from the car.

Linda comments, "Then the odds are the kidnappers will be calling with demands. I mean, it is not likely the girl herself has any value to the Kidnappers, so the demands will be needed for them to get whatever they want? That is how it always goes in the movies." OK, Linda was Kidnapped once herself, but the case was completely different...

Nightwing nods to her, "That would be the best place to start." he doesn't find much which is likely because they were professionals. He says, "Next stop would be her father, this is the part of the job I hate." He looks over at Linda the question of if she is going to come along asked but not with words.

Officially, Linda is just an artist and a witness, she would have no reason to go with Nightwing. She says, "I probably need to copy those sketches to give to the police, they will be here soon." Now, once Nightwing is gone, she can change into her costume and catch up...

Nightwing nods to her, "alright.' he hands them back since he will have no problem remembering them and he heads off to talk to the father.

Linda waits impatiently for the police, when they arrive she hands over the pictures and an illustrated written statement. While the police are busy calling in and questioning other witnesses, (some of whom were much closer), Linda slips away and changes to the colorful costume of Proxima.

Proxima flies after Nightwing, catching up a few blocks away from the museum. She flies beside him and tells him, "I got to the Museum too late to stop the Kidnapping, but was informed you drove off in this direction. I am not a detective, but I can possibly help." She has just enough left of her old shape-shifting abilities to add red highlights to her hair when she changes into costume.

Nightwing nods to her and smiles, "Well I will take all the help I can get. I would say the car they used was likely stolen." He says, "I am about to let the father know what happened." He says, "though you might be quicker than conventional travel.

Proxima replies, "That I am, if you tell me where to go." Proxima can fly at supersonic speed and put a force field around herself and whoever she is carrying to keep them from being harmed by the wind sheer. She has no idea where the parents live though.

Nightwing is able to get that address from the Batcomputer and he relays it to Proxima, adding in directions if she needs them, "Thanks. The extra mobility will be a big help."

Proxima picks up the Motorcycle and rider, balancing it on one hand by the frame (actually holding it in place not just balancing it, though most would have trouble telling the difference) as she takes to the air. Following the directions given they arrive at the Parent's home in moments.

Once they land Nightwing activates the security and stealth systems on the bike so he will be safe and not draw attention while they work on the case and he heads inside with Proxima. He has done this sort of thing before so he breaks the news gently to the parents.

One of the parents says, "We are not rich, what could they want from us?" Apparently in a bit of shock, they are only thinking in terms of money as a ransom. Proxima Glances around...theoretically looking for clues but actually a bit uncomfortable, preferring to leave the talking to parents to Nightwing.

Nightwing nods to the parent speaking, "I think it is likely related to the work at STAR." He says, "We think they will be calling soon with demands." he asks, "Is there anything you can tell me that would give us a head start?" He too starts to scan the room looking for anything out of the ordinary.

The Mother says, "At STAR..." she hesitates, then continues, "We recently gained a piece of crystal...the person who sold it to us said it was a piece of something called a Power Prism...apparently it is capable of absorbing light and combining it with psionic energy from the wielder to create solid light constructs...at least if it is complete. We have been experimenting with crystal growth techniques to see if we can grow it to a usable size, but it has a unique chemical structure we have yet to figure out. It is the only thing I have been working on that would be worth kidnapping someone over." Her husband says proudly, "My wife is an expert on crystal growth, she has worked on artificial rubies for lasers before."

Nightwing nods as he listens, "Well that certainly sounds like something they would be after." he looks over to Proxima and asks, "Are you familiar with this crystal, I am not from the area so it is new to me." he admits.

Proxima says, "Only a bit familiar, I have been studying the heroes and villains of the world you are not from. The device is functionally similar to a Power Ring. It belonged to a villain and got shattered in a fight involving the Hulk. I do not know much about it beyond that, except it apparently came from another galaxy."

Nightwing nods, "Interesting, well if it is like a power ring we can't let it fall into the wrong hands." he gets on his comm unit and contacts Oracle to trace any call that come into the house and he tells the parents, "When they call try to keep them on the line for as long as you can, that way we can trace back to where they are."

Linda has no idea whom Nightwing is contacting, but hopefully it works. She thinks aloud, "Standard police tracing takes...if I recall, about two minutes. Smart Kidnappers probably know that and stay on the line much less than that. The main question is, will they ask the mother to try to steal the crystal, or to help them get someone inside to do it?"

Oracle's is likely quicker than the standard trace but who knows if that will be enough. He says, "That is the big thing but I think we can keep an eye on things and pretend to go along with things at least until we know she is safe. If need be I can disguise myself as one of you to keep you both safe as well."

Proxima points out, "They are likely to want the Mother with them, I doubt you can disguise yourself as her very well. Possibly you could disguise me though."

Nightwing nods to Proxima, "Yeah it would take a lot more effort but you should fit the bill easier." he asks her, "You ever done any undercover work?" He asks.

Proxima hesitates, "Kind of..." That was Matrix, not Linda. Her memories from Matrix are spotty...but Matrix was a shape-shifter and used her powers for undercover work at times. Hopefully it will come back to her.

Nightwing knows there is something familiar about this new hero and he thinks he knows what it is but he will dig into that mystery once the current one is solved. He nods, "Well try to say a little as possible, hopefully the perps will not know the mother." He heads out to the motorcycle to get the disguise kit he keeps in the saddlebags of the machine.

Linda wonders if she will have to take off her mask first. Still, at least they should be able to go in private for that part...too many people already know she is Linda. Spider-Man, Kara, Power Girl, and several people at Xavier's.

Nightwing nods when they are in private and he sees beneath the mask, "I thought I recognized the voice." he says, "Don't worry I am good with secrets." he says as he gets to work making her a dead ringer for the mother and hoping that is not choice of words that will be regretful later. "Welcome back to the business.' he says.

Considering she is 6 inches shorter, 20 pounds lighter, and has auburn hair instead of blond...many people would not think she looks much like she did then.

Nightwing's expert disguise skills make Linda able to pass for the mother. Linda says, "The question is, how will they identify the real crystal? Would a fake get us close enough to rescue the daughter?"

Nightwing thinks for a moment, "That I am not sure, though I can tail them from a meeting point, I am not sure how they plan on knowing the real crystal from a fake, but one thing is certain we can't let them have the real."

Linda nods, "So we need images of the real crystal so we can craft a fake...something that looks like to at a glance. We will have to hope that is good enough."

Nightwing nods and says, "Yeah that should be do-able." he says, "I mean it might not fool every thing but at least pass the eye test." he says, "Alright so the plan is ot deliver the fake crystal ot them. I will tail them on the ground and you take the air once they are no longer watching you."

A schematic of the crystal fragment is soon produced on the family computer. Proxima, to the surprise of most, carves an ornamental crystal into a reasonable facsimile using her finger nails. She is an accomplished sculptress as Linda. Sure enough, even while they are working, the call comes in...telling the Girl's mother to get the crystal and that they would call with instructions in two hours. The call was cut short, the Kidnappers are pros. The best Oracle can probably do is tell what exchange the call was made though.

Nightwing makes note of the exchange at least it is something, "Alright now the hardest part. The waiting." He looks to the mother, "Drive to STAR Labs and kill some time before coming back, that way if they are watching you it looks legit."

Linda suggests, "Take the fake crystal with you, if they have someone inside watching, it would be best of you seem to have what you are supposed to steal."

Nightwing nods to Linda, "that is a good idea." He assures the mother, "We will get her back safe." Once the mother leaves he turns his attention to Proxima, "I am not sure where to begin.

Linda responds, "At the beginning is generally the best place." He will obviously know her from the Gallery, but how much more does he think he knows?

Nightwing nods, "Well I am not sure where the beginning is." He says, "You sound like I should know you but don't really look it." he says, "And well I did see behind the curtain so to speak when I got your disguise ready."

Linda considers, "You are the detective...you have seen me before in a recent fight. You known my capabilities. I suggest you deduce, and if there are blanks that need to be filled, I will consider filling them."

Nightwing nods to her, "That is true." he smiles, "Well you said you knew me from the Titans and that combined with the voice and abilities makes me think of someone but you are quite a bit different."

Linda waits, schooling herself to expressionlessness. So far he has not said anything that takes a reply.

Nightwing smiles as she remains expressionless and he says, "You have a nasty poker face." He says, "So am I on the right track and if so what has changed?"

"I was once a reserve Titan," Linda admits. That is not saying much, there were dozens of those. She adds, "Back then...I was part of something more. We...became separated after a near disaster most people have forgotten." It is probably just as well most people do not remember when Carnivore was running Heaven.

Nightwing nods to her, "Mostly forgotten near disasters are sadly all too common." He does not press after all if he does not remember there is likely a reason for that, "So you are not what you once were but still in the game it seems."

Linda replies, "I was out of the game for a long time, but I am still capable of much, I can no longer stand idly by."

Nightwing nods to her, "We all have times when we need a break." he extends a hand to her, "Welcome back." He offers a smile.

She says, "Call me Proxima...as I am not what I once was a new name is fitting."

She takes his hand, but is VERY careful with it.

Nightwing nods, "Well nice to meet you once again Proxima, and if you are still interested in being a Titan...." The offer is clear even if it is unstated, "I am trying to revive the group."

"I am a bit out of practice, I am doing some retraining...perhaps when I am ready," responds Linda.

Nightwing nods and says, 'Well you know where to find us." He adds, "Just look for the giant T." He says, "We should go back on and check on things, make sure things are moving smoothly."

Eventually the scientist returns from the Lab. When the call comes in, Linda takes it, doing her best to imitate the mother's voice. She is not bad at it, though it would not fool anyone who knew her well. She listens to the directions and asks, "Can I talk to my Daughter, I need to know that she is all right." It is what she would do if it were Ariella...

Nightwing smiles at the added touch of asking to speak with the daughter and gives her a thumbs up. He paces a bit not liking the fact that so much is out of his control right now. If there is one thing that ties all the Bats together it is that need to feel like everything is under their control.

Linda hopes the daughter does not give the game away, as she says, "Jenny? Don't worry dear, we will get you home safe and sound." Of course the girl is quickly pulled away from the phone and the kidnapper is again talking. "Wait by the phone at the 76 station on Lexington at Concord for further instructions. Come alone, no police. Understood."

Nightwing makes sure his gear is ready and then he says, "Alright I will head out first, and take the long way there. Just follow the instructions they give you." he smiles, "Good Luck." He tells Proxima as he heads out.

Proxima takes the Family car and drives carefully to the gas station. It is a fairly short drive, though the traffic makes it take longer than she would like.

As she pulls in and walks to the phone, a figure in the distance, hidden from view, points a device at the disguised hero. The Device chirps and a green light comes on. The figure grunts and says into cell phone, "If the gizmo is right, she has it with her." The voice on the other end responds, "Excellent."

The pay phone rings and Linda answers it, "Drive north to the Hobesneck Bridge. Park your car nearby and walk to under the bridge, you will be met there."

Nightwing watches from the shadow as well, he has no device instead he just waits impatiently. While he is not quite as stealthy as his mentor, with the help of his dark costume he melts into the shadows and is almost completely undetectable. He waits until Proxima heads out then tails her from a distance to not arouse suspicions in case she is being watched.

Proxima parks the car and walks towards the bridge, pausing briefly to look at the bridge and remember a fragment from the Matrix past, the time she and Superboy failed to keep Stinger from collapsing the bridge. It took a long time to rebuild. She walks around to under the bridge and waits. She hears a sound approaching...or is that two sounds from different directions? She looks around and sees a hydrofoil approaching from the left. She does not see anything from the right (but someone with a different point of view might make out a lumpy flying figure).

Once she arrives under the bridge, Nightwing stows the motorcycle nearby and sneaks closer he chooses to head to the bridge itself to give him the advantage of the high ground to watch the exchange. He notices both the hydrofoil and the flying figure, he focuses his attention on the flying figure after all that is more out of the ordinary than the hydrofoil.

The flying figure is out of the ordinary indeed, it seems to be a stout man in a chair, but with a hugely expanded head. It is a creature called MODOK, and is the leader of one faction of AIM. The Flying chair gives it excellent agility and flight speed.

The Hydrofoil slows down under the bridge and two men in yellow body suits with cylindrical masks or helmets (it is unclear which, pull Jenny from the cabin. MODOK flies in from the other direction, staying behind the pillar until the mother should be distracted, then flying up and saying, "Hand over the crystal and your daughter will be restored to you. Fail to do so and you both die."

Nightwing swears to himself at the sight of MODOK, he knows that creature is out of his league, and an unexpected wrinkle. Still he sticks with the plan. He takes out a homing device and attempts to toss it onto the boat with out getting notice, is is small no bigger than a coin so could easily be missed in the dark while the focus is one the negotiation.

Linda holds up the fake crystal, "You can clearly take this from me whenever you want, let my daughter go and you can have it." She just has to pretend it is Ariella who is being held to get the right note of desperation in her voice.

Modok laughs grotesquely, and then suddenly attempts a mind Probe. Linda reflexively blocks the probe...not that he could not break through, she is not his equal in that way, but it would not matter as the probe would have revealed her as a fake just as surely as the blocking it did. Realizing that the gig is up, Linda moves...tossing the fake crystal into the air and flying to the hydrofoil to grab Jenny, protecting the child with both her body and a force field. Barely in time too as she is hit by a powerful telekinetic bolt that was clearly aimed at the child.

Nightwing winces as the fight starts, and he has an idea, he yells to Linda, "Get the girl to safety I will keep the crystal safe." He says trying to keep the illusion that the crystal is legit. He hooks a line to the bridge and leaps off swinging down to grab the crystal and hopefully draw all the fire his way so Proxima can escape with the girl.

Nightwing is brave, though he is likely to fail and possibly be badly hurt, he is right that the girl is first priority. Linda flies away faster than even MODOK can follow, her flight speed being superior to his. Once someplace safely hidden, she will leave Jenny and say, "Stay here, I have to rescue Nightwing."

Brave but failing is exactly what happening. He is able to dodge the fire from the AIM grunts while in mid-air, he has lots of experience doing that but you can't really dodge telekinesis and he ends up imprisoned in a TK field by MODOK who gleefully uses his power to tear the faux crystal from the hero's grasp. Though once the creature starts to examine the crystal he soon realizes it is a fake and he lets out a cream of rage. MODOK's headband begins to glow as he builds up power to fulfill his design and sadly Nightwing is not in position to dodge.

Modok pauses before killing Nightwing, he has a question to answer, "How did you fool my scanner? It detected Organic Unstable Molecules, the crystal should have been the only thing made of those in the area."

Proxima hits him moving at supersonic speed, she did not hear the question because of her speed, though she would know the answer if she had. MODOK's Force Field takes the blow, though he is forced backward, away from Nightwing, letting the hero free.

Nightwing drops to the ground and smiles, "Ask and ye shall receive the answer." He is not certain that Proxima caused it but why let that get in the way of a good quip, once his feet touch the ground he is in motion, he lets Proxima take the fight to MODOK while he focuses on the AIM agents, a pair level weapons at him only to be beaten on the draw by a brace of batarangs.

The AIM costumes are lightly armored, the pair is well trained, but Nightwing is better. He hits them both, though they are not knocked out because of the armor, they are hurt and miss their return shots.

MODOK would have a advantage if the fight were strictly mental, he can use all his psychic powers at the same time, but Proxima's sheer physical power is added to the equation. She Parries his force blast with his own, the telekinetic forces canceling out while she beats on his force field with her fists...it is clear MODOK is not up to handling her.

After the shots miss, Nightwing closes the distance between them, once he gets close he leap into the air and somersaults toward them with his legs extending out as he comes down aimed at them. He calls out asking Proxima, "How are you handling him?"

Proxima is about to answer when MODOK changes targets, Knocking a bus off the bridge. She could handle a car by telekinesis, but the Bus is too big, she has to go after it physically. The artificially evolved creature flies away while Proxima is busy. Nightwing realizes that the crew of the Hydrofoil is headed onto deck...he will soon be outnumbered.

Since the fight is about to get a lot more difficult he draws his escrima and tries to use the darkness to his advantages, slipping into the shadows and appearing only for a moment to strike the disappearing back into the darkness. It likely will not work for long but should pick a couple of them off.

Bringing the bus to someplace safe is the work of moments, but it is enough time for the quick and agile flight of the hover chair to take MODOK out of sight. Not knowing which way he went, Proxima heads back to the Hydrofoil and pulls the blasters away from the AIM soldiers with her speed.

Once the blasters are out of play Nightwing steps form the shadows and uses his best creepy smile on the AIM agents, "I think you should just surrender, your boss left and you are all out gunned."

The AIM agents surrender, they recruit from intelligent people, so they know a losing battle when they are in one. Once they are in custody, Proxima recovers Jenny and takes her and Nightwing back to her parents for a tear-filled reunion. Proxima looks on with a troubled expression, and says to Nightwing, "It seems unlikely to me that AIM will stop with just one attempt."

Nightwing nods to her, 'You are right." he looks to the family and says, "You might want to look into some security either through STAR or on your own, after all we might not be around next time."

The father says, "Now that we know we are likely to come under attack, STAR will activate it's security to watch over us and the others involved in the project. If AIM tries again, they will not know what hit them." The two heroes take their leave of the happy family.

As they leave Nightwing offers a card to Proxima, it has the contact info for Titan's Tower on it, "If you decide you are interested." He smiles, "Thank you for the help tonight I couldn't have pulled this off without you." He offers her his hand as well.

"Nor could I have done it without you," Proxima admits. "We made a pretty good team. I may take you up on it." She waits a moment.

Nightwing nods and smiles, "Yeah we do make a good team." he then asks, "So did you do the thing with the scanner?" He asks. "I wasn't expecting that but you did good there."

Proxima frowns, "What thing with the scanner?" She had not noticed the one who scanned her, and she did not hear MODOK.

Nightwing says, "MODOK got quite irate when he found out the crystal was fake and demanded to know how I fooled it, I figured it had to be something you had done because I had no clue what he was talking about."

Proxima inquires, "What did he say? Perhaps we can figure it out."

Nightwing thinks for a moment, "It was something about Organic Unstable molecules, and that the scanner picked them up." He shrugs, "So I figured you knew you were being scanned and fooled it somehow."

Proxima laughs, "Oh, that was not something I did, it is something I AM. About 1% of my body mass is made of the stuff, or so they tell me. That would explain why STAR labs can not grow the crystal though...you need the right kind of growth medium and that is not easy stuff to get."

Nightwing nods, "I see, so when he thought they scanned the crystal, they really scanned you." he says, "good thing too, that was a hole in our plan but I am not sure how we would have faked that."

Proxima replies, "Not any easy way. Do you think we should tell Jenny's mother?"

Nightwing thinks for a moment then shakes his head, "Not right now, lets wait on that, after all do we really want people growing their own power rings?" he ponders as the Bat-instilled paranoia starts to show itself.

Proxima says, "I will leave it to you, you are the expert on...well more things than I can count. They will probably figure it out eventually though, STAR Labs is good." She takes to the air, waves at Nightwing, and flies off to the west.