2013-09-08 - Gossiping with Bats

Wally's spent a lot of time up in the Watchtower of late, he and Linda are still on the outs and there's not much to fill his free time down planetside. So Wally volunteers extra shifts for monitor and resource allocation duty. Recently, J'onn has taken over the duties so Wally's spending some time in the cafeteria. A few pizza pies from Wally's favorite place in Keystone City have been brought up to the Watchtower. Wally quietly sits next to one of the huge windows with a view of the Earth below. Several empty pizza boxes are piled up on the ground next to his seat; half a dozen pizza boxes remain on the table, one box top is open with half a pizza inside yet to be eaten. Half a slice remains in the Fastest Man Alive's hand while he looks out into the void.

Well, apparently even Batman needs to eat. He gains food on a tray that are high in protein and energy giving vitamins before sitting at a table to eat. The table? Flash's, though he has to move some of the pizza boxes to make room. He eats in an efficient and neat manner, but honestly? Who likes to watch Batman eat? Perhaps Alfred. And of course conversation is often difficult to start with Bats, but at least he attempts it first since he joined Wally's table, "You have been spending a lot of time up here Flash." It is more an observation than a question.

Flash's attention didn't even shift to Batman when he arrived and sat at his table. His gaze remained focused on some point in space beyond the Watchtower. When Bats speaks, he finally pulls his attention to the Dark Knight. He flashes a toothy grin at Batman, "Someone's gotta be up here. In this new and interesting world we find ourselves in, we're kind of spread thin right? Who better to deal with a lot of the monitor duty than someone like me?" The pizza slice in his hand disappears in a blink of an eye. The pizza slice is replacement by the Wally chewing and swallowing. He adds nonchalantly, "I can handle it. Frees the rest of the team up."

The cowl hides the raised eyebrow at least. "Not boring?" Batman can see something has been up for a while, and he likely knows it is associated with Flash's personal life. Still, he doesn't poke and prod too obviously as he knows Wally would return the favor if he ever had the chance. A favor he wouldn't appreciate being returned. "Has anyone checked in with Kyle lately?" The member that left to join the Avengers.

Flash laughs at the first question Batman poses to him. He shakes his head and raises a hand to the back of his own cowled head. He rubs it almost awkwardly and says, "Batman; Don't take this the wrong way, but, most everything I do eventually becomes boring to me. It's just the nature of things. This conversation? I'm trying my hardest to not drum my fingers in-between the words you speak." The rest of the pizza from the opened box suddenly disappears in a red and yellow blur. As for Batman's second question, "And Kyle? No; I haven't heard a peep from Kyle. Suppose I should skip over to New York sometime and touch base with him."

A nod at that, "It would be wise. I haven't read any reports that included contact with the Avengers since the Skrull Invasion." Not that Batman really participated in that, he got the aftermath reports however. And if Flash checks in on Kyle, it would fly over better than Batman doing it. Batman does not comment on his boring conversation, he has been told often what a boring conservationist he was without the individual having speed force connection.

"There have been reports that Vandal Savage is active again. I'll forward them to The Womb later for review," Batman informs. "He never does things half-way." Basically, Batman suspects it will be big.

To the Kyle topic, Flash nods. He reaches for another box, this time doing so without using his superspeed. He grabs a second box and holds it out for Bruce, "Want some? It's from Napoli's on third street in Keystone City. Little hole in the wall Italian place. They can certainly sling a pie." For the topic of Vandal Savage, Flash shrugs his shoulders, "It was only a matter of time before he's crawl out from whatever cave he was hiding in. What makes you think he's making a move now?"

Looking at his protein rich food, Batman then looks at the pizza. He actually goes to grab a slice and takes a bite out of it. It is pretty good. "Some of his cells world-wide has increased activity, and there has been a rise of purchased items used to make chemical warfare weaponry. Having contacts in other teams and groups right now could be useful." Thus why Batman is sicking Flash on Kyle. He can make it seem more friendly than treating Kyle like a tool.

Flash's pie disappears in a blur of red and yellow movement and chewing. The Fastest Man Alive leans back in his seat and looks to Bruce while brushing crumbs from his gloves, "Activity in his cells? Great. Was hoping some of our heaviest would have bidded their time just a little bit longer, huh?" He adds, "I'll see if I can call up Kyle, give him a 'hey how you doing'."

Batman nods slightly at Flash's agreement, finishing off his single slice of pizza before he takes another bite of his own food. He is thoughtful, "How is Central City and Keystone handling the merge?" Wally likely doesn't want to know how Gotham City is handling it.

Flash waves his hand dismissively at the question, "The Twin Cities have dealt with it, I suppose. Tough at first but things have gelled, you know?" He grimaces and adds, "Hardest part was integrating the economies of what was into the world economy of now. I know Keystone Motors has been having trouble integrating with the new reality of the car market. But, you know, how do you deal with that scenario on a business level?" He flashes another grin and reaches for another box of pizza.

Very carefully doesn't quite answer Flash's question. "Buy up and expand," is what Batman says instead. It is what Wayne Enterprises did. "I know the local economy depends a lot on Keystone Motors, so hopefully they pull through. They have a number of potential marketing options, being one of the very few actual U.S.-based vehicle companies."

Batman is sitting across the table from Flash. The table is scattered with some pizza boxes, and Batman has a tray with protein-rich food he is eating, along with folded napkin beside his plate. "Not really anything an outsider of the company can do about other than wait and see."

Now the Flash can't help but drum his fingers, but it's not out of the constant sense of boredom that he feels; It's at the suggestion for what Keystone Motors should do. He shrugs his right shoulder, "Of course; It's gotta be that easy, right?" He frowns and finishes off the box of pizza he just grabbed. The box is tossed to his side and joins all of its brothers and sisters littered on the floor. Flash admits, "I'm hoping they pull through. I know a bunch of folks that work in the factories and service centers. Great company. Good people."'

"Their cars have a good reputation, but they don't have any publicity cars to show off at car shows and there is a large population that never heard of them. Word-of-month is not going to work in the new world." Yes, Batman is discussing business of all things with Flash. He finishes his meal one piece of pizza that disappeared earlier, and slides the tray aside thoughtfully. "Have you heard of Hammer Industries and Oscorp?" And then on to current events. New York may not be his hometown, but it's practically in Gotham's backyard, just past Bludhaven.

Flash grins and shakes his head, "The living Urban Legend of Gotham is telling me that word of mouth ain't going to work for Keystone Motors." He verbalizes this even though it comes out as if it was meant to be an inner monologue. To Batman's question, Flash nods, "I've seen trucks and shipping crates with those company's names and logos plastered to 'em, yeah. Don't know much about them." The Fastest Man Alive asks, "Why?"

A snort comes from Batman, "Most of Gotham City population is still from our home Earth," he distinctively points out. "To the rest of the world, I'm still mostly myth," once again. But then back on current events, "Former CEO Norman Osborn of Oscorp is running for New York mayor, and current CEO of Hammer Industries, Justine Hammer is running as well. Both with ties to criminals. Norman Osborn reported he was held kidnapped for years by Green Goblin who faked his death, and Justine's father is a wanted criminal still, whereabouts unknown, and is former CEO of Hammer Industries."

Batman taps his own fingertips against the table this time. "Too much to be mere coincidence. Politicians are often crooked, but I have suspicions more is going on for the mayor election than on the surface." It's Batman, he likes to think he can control everything. Not just Gotham City.

The pizza boxes disappear from the table and from the floor in a blur of scarlet and gold. Flash disappears as well from his seat but not from the area. In the blink of an eye everything is cleaned up and Wally is standing next to the table with his palms pressed down onto the surface. He comments, "I'm not really one that follows politics. I don't live in New York, so I'll take your word on political update." He pauses and adds, "Perhaps the NYPD should do something about the mayoral candidates?"

"On surface level, both are clean, too clean," Batman says. Hey, this is NYC! Didn't one of the previous mayoral candidates send nekkid pictures of himself to random women? Clean is suspicious. "New York is in my back yard, and it's a powerful enough city to set trends. Worth keeping an eye on. Furthermore, Intergang is heavily active in the city, though at this time there does not appear to be an obvious tie between them and the mayor election."

Flash grimaces and admits, "Politics aren't really up my alley, Batman. So I'll take your word for it." Flash leans up off of the table and looks over his shoulder at nothing in particular, "Sounds like you need to send one Robin or Batgirl or someone to dig up some dirt on these candidates. Maybe hire a P.I.?" he turns back to Batman and the grimace turns into a broad smile, "Anywho, Batman. Gotta get running. I don't want to leave Jay all alone in the twin cities for too long. He's supposed to be semi-retired, after all!"

Sure, send Batgirl. The girl that still can't read. Batman nods however and moves to pick up his tray to set it to be taken to the back and washed. "Sure. Pass the information though." He means to Kyle. Though it's iffy if he manages to get that out before Flash is already gone, knowing the man's general impatience.