DC: 2011-07-28 - Visiting the Zoo- Kryptonian Style

Kara Zor-El sits outside the coffee shop, drinking some chamomile tea. She actually likes it - it's a lot like something she used to have on Krypton. She's dressed in her Kara Kent 'disguise' - if it can be called a disguise. Just a ponytail and glasses, but for some reason that seems to fool everyone, for reasons Kara will never quite understand. Batman said it's because people simply don't expect superherose to be doing stuff like needing glasses or wearing their hair like that, or sipping tea at a coffee house. No, they're pictured doing things like moving meteors out of the path of earth, fighting villains, lifting cars, and whatnot - especially for someone like Kara or her cousin. Anyway, it's nice to feel normal. The others might not understand why, but she sure likes the feeling of having no expectations, at least for a moment. She closes her eyes to smel the tea.

Tim Drake is just a kid on a red skateboard. He's more than adept with it, he's really good. It's something he doesn't get a chance to do much these days, and it helps add to his disguise as well. He knows the street the coffee house is on, and who he's looking for. He comes upon her and his breath is taken once again, just for a moment. He smiles as he coasts the skateboard towards her table and stops several feet away, and popping it up into his hand with a smooth and long-time practiced motion. He walks over to where Kara sits and smiles at her, "Hey pretty," he says warmly, "This seat taken?" he asks with that smile of his.

Kara Zor-El looks up and sees Tim. She looks behind her. "Seriously, how do you do that?"

Tim Drake blinks, curious. "Do what?" he says, sliding into the seat across from her.

Kara Zor-El puts down her tea and leans over to you. "We're in Metropolis. There are millions of people here. You don't know where I live here, yet you find me at a coffee shop?" She shakes her head. "You really -are- trained by the world's greatest detective arent you."

Tim Drake grins a little, "Yeah, I kinda am. At least you never have worry about giving directions?" he offers helpfully. There's a bit of a grin on his face. "So what's good here?" he asks.

Kara Zor-El smiles. "The chamomile tea. It's just like - she says the word in kryptonian, then pauses, trying to figure out how to describe itt. "It's sort of like a flower that you get nectar from the stem and heat it up."

Tim Drake makes a face. It's clearly unpleasant. "Tea? Bleeech." he says, "I only drink that when I'm sick, and I'm never sick." he peers in the window, "Ooooh..double mocha fudge chip machiofrappe coffecino. Double Explogrande." he nods, his mind made up. "I'll be right back." when he returns moments later it's with a frozen coffee beverage in an absolutely huge container. He sits back down across from you, "Now THIS?" he points to the gods-awful huge thing, "is the STUFF right here."

Kara Zor-El pauses. "Only reason to drink that is to keep yourself awake and... well... caffeine doesnt really work on me." She shrugs and smiles. "Can I have a sip actually?"

Tim Drake slides it over to you, "Trust me, you're gonna looove this."

Kara Zor-El puts down her tea and takes your fudge mocha latte....whatever. and sips it curiously. Well at least she doesn't need to blow on it first. She makes a little face, keeping her lips tightly closed for a moment after sipping it. "It's...um.... good." She carefully puts it down and slides it back over to you.

Tim Drake grins, "I know, right?!" he says, and takes a sip himself, "Want some more?" he asks.

Kara Zor-El picks up her tea and quickly says "Oh.. no, nono, it's okay you enjoy it. It's really good but you should have it. Besides I already have my ..." She holds up her cup. "This."

Tim Drake nods, and shrugs, "Well okay, if you really want to drink tea, that's all you Kara." he says and takes another long sip. "So what have you been doing, everything going okay?" he asks, making conversation.

Kara Zor-El shakes her head, "Oh... no, no it's really good, your double mocha fudge chip machiofrappe coffecino double explogrande." There's that memory. "Honest. I might even have it next time if I didnt have the chamomile." She looks at you. "Everything's good, yeah. I did a mission for" she looks around. "Well your boss. It was pretty fun, don't tell him that though."

Tim Drake nods, leaning in and sipping again. "Yeah? I promise I won't tell him you enjoyed yourself. I don't think he'd react to that particularly well..but anyway, what'd ya do?"

Kara Zor-El sips her tea again. "Um... took out a gang with these high powered energy weapons. Brought one to ... you know... him... for examination and also brought the leader in. Left the rest for the SCU to take care of after they were knocked out."

Kara Zor-El smiles. "Like I said. Fun. I mean the energy beams stung a little bit though, but asn't like... bad or anything. Probably would be bad out on the street though. If it stings me... yknow." She shrugs.

Tim Drake nods, "Impressive. I'm glad you weren't hurt, but now do you believe me that he doesn't hate you?"

Kara Zor-El nods, sipping her tea. "He just has jerky tendencies, but no he doesn't hate me. I think he needs to be hugged more often."

Tim Drake laughs at the visual of his boss being repeatedly hugged and how he'd take it. "I..I don't know how he'd take that, honestly, but you're more than welcome to try." he says, obviously still amused.

Kara Zor-El smiles. "Hide his kryptonite before I do." She giggles a bit. "Seriously though... you being here reminds me.... did you still want to see that zoo?"

Tim Drake nods, "Sure, if you still want me to see it." he says smiling at her giggle. He looks down and is silent a moment. Something's crossing his mind.

Kara Zor-El leans over. "Depends. Got a jacket?" Kara Zor-El pauses. "What's wrong?"

Tim Drake looks up, "I got a button up shirt," he pulls at his red overshirt. He smiles, "Nothing. Your laugh.." he says, "It's pretty." he states plainly.

Kara Zor-El blushes just a bit. "Thanks." She looks at your shirt. "Might need something warmer. Which means yay... shopping" she grins mischevously.

Tim Drake just. blinks. "Shop..hey, wait, I thought we were going to this zoo you were talking about..not playing dress up with Tim." he takes a nervous sip of his drink. Kara Zor-El takes out some money and puts it on the table, putting her cup on it, then takes your hand. "No arguing with girls who can juggle tanks. Shopping!" She tugs. "Cmon" she says with a grin.

Tim Drake gets tugged..well, dragged a little bit, and barely has time to grab his skateboard. "Hey!" he says with surprise, but the crush he has lets him just go along with it, "You're gonna turn me into a Ken doll, aren't you?"

Kara Zor-El does sort of drag you along a bit, admittedly. "I honestly have no idea what that means" as she takes you into an Old Blue store. "You really do need something warm. Antarctica's nippy this time of year. Actually every time of year."

Tim Drake makes a bit of a surprised "Oh" face. "Yeah, you're right.." he leans in, speaking quietly, "The Titans have an outpost here. I'm sure I can find some cold weather gear there," but the look of happiness as she leads him into the Old Blue store just makes him give up. "Okay, okay." he concedes, but with an admonition: "No girly colors, okay?" -- it's more of a pleading tone than anything else.

Kara Zor-El just pulls Tim into the store and over to the winter wear. Even though it's summer. "Okay um.... lets see..." She pulls a nice looking sweatshirt off the rack and hands it to you. Followed by a leather trenchcoat with thinsulate lining, and one of those poofie ball hats one might see on a South Park character.

Robin hmms at the sweatshirt and the hat, but hmms appreciatively at the trenchcoat. "I like this one.." he says, "Almost workwear." he observes. Kara Zor-El grins looking at you, turning you around a bit. "You look totally...." She thinks of the slang. "Boss." She nods.

Robin grins, "Thanks." he pays for the clothing with his own plastic. He still gets a rather generous stipend from Bruce so it's no sweat. "So am I ready?" he asks, smiling.

Kara Zor-El nods grinning. "C'mon, there's an alley out back" She takes you by your hand again and pulls you out of the store after you pay, moving into an alley. She peers around, making sure no one's looking. "Hold on tightly ok?" she asks Tim.

Robin nods, "Gotcha." he wraps his hands around your waist and if it wasn't for the fact he's about hold on for dear life it'd be affectionate..almost intimate. "Ok. Ready." he says in your ear.

Kara Zor-El puts one arm around Tim also, just to make sure.... then flies upwards - very fast until they're over the cloudline, then takes off in a northern direction. She smiles. "So you really never have been to the Fortress? I know both Batman and Diana have been there." She pauses. "Oh um..... you're good with dogs, right?"

Robin nods, as the wind whips past, his hair a tangle. "Yeah, I'm fine with dogs..why?" Kara Zor-El spins a bit in the air as she flies with you, still holding onto you securely. "Krypto still isn't really that crazy about me." She puts one arm to her side and speeds up until the two of you are over the arctic ocean. She peers down through the clouds off in the distance. "Oh I can even show you the ship I came here in! If you want, I mean."

Robin grins, "Are you kidding? Of course I do.." he pauses, "Superman's not going to be mad you brought me here, right?" he asks suddenly concerned.

Kara Zor-El shrugs. "If he can bring Batman here, I can bring my friends here too. Besides.... it's sort of hard to get in if you're not Kryptonian.... I'll show you." She flies downward with you where there's a massive structure seeminly made of crystal and ice, but far harder than either of those materials. She lands with you by a sealed entrance, complete with a welcome mat. Kara pushes the welcome mat aside and points at a key. Yeah... the entrance to Superman's fortress of solitude, possessing all sorts of wonders from his adventures on earth and across the galaxy.... apparently is a common key that looks like it was made at the corner locksmith.

Robin looks around at the structure, the very milieu in awe, and smiles at Clark's quaintness. "Yeah--that's TOTALLY Clark." he says with a laugh.

Kara Zor-El puts her hands on her hips, the cold not bothering her, obviously. "The entrance is keyed in to Batman so he doesn't need to use the key." Why's she going on so much about the key?

Robin blinks, "Go ahead and go in?" he asks, curious. "Is there some kind of initiation or something?"

Kara Zor-El rolls her eyes a bit, smiling, and points to the key.

Robin shrugs, "Alright," and leans down to scoop. up. the. It's not budging. At all. "Ok." he chuckles, "I know a trick key when I see one."

Kara Zor-El doesn't seem to have any real trouble in picking up and holding the key, obviously. She puts one hand on her hip. "The lock springs are made of the same material as well but are suspended in an antigraviton solution. So the lock can't be picked, and need to be opened with this key. And most people can't pick up the key. It's pretty clever, actually."

Robin blinks. "Most people?" he says, with a smirk. "Try two. I'm looking at one of 'em."

Kara Zor-El smiles a little. "Maybe.... I'm not assuming anything. Well... Kal says it's half a million tons, but I'm pretty sure he's exxagerating. At this size, it's probably not more than 50,000 tons. Kal does that sometimes - he bluffs." She takes the key and slides it into the lock, turning it and opening the immense, foot-thick, 20 foot high door, before removing the key from the keyhole. She motions inside with a welcoming 'after you.'

Robin looks around and just smirks. "Fair enough." he looks around quietly before stepping inside.

Kara Zor-El puts the key back on the ground, then puts the mat back over it before closing the door after the two of you. She offeres to take your coat.

Robin looks around, giving a low whistle. "Wow." he says softly. He peels off the leather trench and tosses it over his shoulder casually. "Nah, I'm good Kara." he says with a smile.

The Fortress is.... immense. Futuristic. A little bit of the wonders of Krypton, here on Earth. Ceilings higher than the batcave. A long hallway, with thick glass on either side, behind which are all sorts of flora and fauna from a thousand different worlds. And then Superman comes up to you and stands there, motionless.

Robin blinks, "Umm..Superman?" he says, immediately getting nervous. "I didn't know you were here.." he looks over his shoulder to Kara in an expression of "You didn't tell me SUPERMAN was here."

Kara Zor-El looks over at Robin, then at 'Superman.' "Oh... OHHHHH" she giggles a bit. "That's not Kal-el." She raises Superman's shirt, then opens his chest via a a sliding panel. "Kal made a bunch of robots that are here. In case he can't be around for an extended period of time. I guess since I'm here, he didnt bother activating any of them to their normal tasks." She shrugs. "Yay, I'm better than a robot."

Robin chuckles, "Whew. Scared me for a second." he pauses, "No wonder Clark and Bruce get along." he says. Running a hand through his hair.

Kara Zor-El nods a little, not wanting to mention how nice Batman was to Kara as Bruce Wayne. She closes the panel on the android and takes your hand as she shows you around. She heads over to one of the displays of the interplanetary zoo. "Okay... right there? That's a Rezyllian Thunder Lizard." she points at an immense dinosaur-looking creature with razor sharp teeth and 20 eyes that lumbers past.... followed by 5 smaller versions of the same creature.

It's the first time Tim's seen an alien creature of any kind and his response for a young man his age and is awestruck. "That's..amazing." is all he can say. He's just taken aback by it. Real. Alien. Dinosaurs.

Of course, his 'tour guide' is also an 'alien creature,' though that might be lost on Tim considering Kara's appearance. She points to another creature as she walks along, looking like a cross between a huge bug, a porcupine, and a plant. "That's a Glophyban. It's the last of its kind, but Kal's been cross polinating it to try to repopulate the species."

Robin nods, "Is that the case in alot of these? That they're the last of their kinds?"

Kara Zor-El nods a little. "According to Kal, he got them all from this alien called the Preserver who was collecting near extinct creatures. Tried to collect him as well as the last Kryptonian. After Kal beat him... I guess he couldnt just let them all die in space so he took them back to Earth to take care of them."

Robin nods quietly, "That's amazing, though." he looks over, "I know that you're technically an alien, and so's Kal..but I guess when you're thinking of aliens, you don't think that they might look like the perfect examples of your own species." he says, he looks back, "You think of this," he motions.

Kara Zor-El smiles, taking your hand. "Want to see something -really- cool, actually?"

Robin nods, "Yeah, I do." he says, very excited to be allowed to being seeing what he's seeing.

Kara Zor-El pulls you past the maisepons (1000 legged iguana-type creatures), past a nesting Faereix and its two chicks (a yellow birdlike creature with blue spikes on its head), and past a dodo bird. She turns a corner and pushes a few buttons, opening a door in the wall with stairs going down. "Cmon."

Robin follows you, eyes dragging past the creatures with wide eyes.

Kara Zor-El takes you downstairs into a very, very dark.... EXTREMELY large room - bigger than the batcave's entirety easily. There's a large pane of what seems like glass, but it probably something a lot more solid. She waves her hand over a lightsource and the dark room slightly lightens, and what you see is this... IMMENSE creature. IT looks like... well... nothing you've ever even imagined before. A huge octopus-type of creatur with tendrils everywhere, its surface as black as the blackest night, except for some gleaming ... eyes... maybe? The only light seems to come from an opening at its bottom - it's mouth? where there's a blinding, contained light. The creature is easily bigger than a small hill. "An infant star eater."

Kara Zor-El crosses her arms, smiling. "Kal said when it's big enough he'll bring it to some others of its own kind he recently discovered near M-87.

Robin blinks. "Star..eater?" he says, his voiced hushed. He's just overwhelmed by the immensity of the room, much less what it contains, "How..why?" he asks, looking at the creature with both awe and admiration.

Kara Zor-El shrugs "Well it's just a baby after all. He couldn't let a baby die right? They serve a good purpose anyway. They prevent black holes." She holds your hand again, grinning. "Kal's been feeding it miniature suns made in the lab, so it's not like it's a danger being here on earth. It won't be big enough to want to eat something like Sol for a few million years. By then it'll be a few million light years away from here. Besides, it wouldnt do that right? It imprinted on this planet. Thinks it's his mommy, according to Kal."

Robin grins, giving your hand a squeeze. "Really? That's pretty cool." he says, he reaches toward the glass and gamely scritches gently at the surface, "Cootchie coo" he says quietly.

Kara Zor-El leans up againt Tim, sighing contentedly. "It's no gorillas, but it's neat."

Robin nods, "It sure is." he says softly, "Thank you for bringing me, here..showing me these things." he looks over, "Thank you for being you."

Kara Zor-El smiles. "I do need to correct you on something though. Something you said before. I'm hardly perfect." She gives you a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for saying that though."

The girl's a genius, one of the strongest beings on the planet if not the galaxy, exceptionally pretty, more powers than you can shake a stick at, and still has a poor self image of herself. Go figure.

"I'll feed him in a little bit. Can't have you down here when giving it the food, though. Radiation." She starts to move back to the stairs.

Robin blushes when you do that, "But Kara, you are..you're smarter than I am, and that's saying something. You've got the powers of a demigod and a body to match. There's literally nothing holding you back from doign whatever you want." he smiles, "You're every guy's dream girl."

Kara Zor-El is blushing. "ummmmm...... my ship! Would you like to see my ship? Or... um... Kal's trophy room? I saw Batman's.... very nice giant penny!"

Robin smiles, "Kara, calm down. I can hear YOUR heartbeat from here. I'm here for as long as you want, you can show me whatever you want. Take your time."

Kara Zor-El takes Robin by the hand and heads back upstairs, closing the door behind the star eater's area. She walks down to the end of the hall with you, where there are two HUGE statues of Jor-El and Lara (Superman's Kryptonian parents), each with one hand held high, with a model of the planet Krypton suspended between them overhead. The statues have to e at least 100 feet tall. Superman does things 'big.'

Robin just looks at the scale here, "I bet Batman gives Superman alot of guff for going large on everything."

Kara Zor-El smiles and shrugs. "It's a big place for just Kal. Well...Kal and me." She looks around. "Not that this is my place. I feel like a squatter."

Robin says, "For now..you'll find ways to make it your own."

Kara Zor-El nods. "What's a good salary?"

Kara Zor-El shrugs a bit. "To... you know.. make it on my own?" She takes your hand as she walks you through more of the Fortress. Past the Titanic, past many of the other superman robots, past her ship, which bears the inscription in Kryptonese, "This vessel contains my daughter Kara Zor-El from the now dead planet, Krypton. Treat her as you would treat your own child. She will prove a treasure for your world." with the translation in english on a nearby computer. Past the armory. And then to her room. She opens the door and heads in with you, then sits down on the bed. Supergirl has a lot of partially built devices, some artwork she's been painting, some stuffed animals, a lot of posters on the walls which have no real rhyme or reason to their theme.... as if she put them up to just try and fit in.

Robin nods, "Well, depends on where you want to stay..how well you want to live." he looks at you, "You could become a model, easy. They make tons of money." he shrugs. "I don't know..I haven't worried about that part of life. I know I'll need to soon."

Kara says, "I mean... I considered making some diamonds but Kal said that would not be good." She tilts her head. "You think so? Um... don't you think that would be too public?"

Robin winces, "oh, that might be." he says, and rubs his head. "Hmmm..you could go through college, and learn a high paying career like Clark did with becoming a journalist?"

Kara Zor-El nods a little. "I am thinking of doing that scholarship and getting a job in one of Waynetech. Not sure if I should show them how to make cold fusion though." She thinks about it.

Robin ponders this, "Might be aiming a little high, but I bet you could land a position in research and development and work your way up the ladder pretty far. Contribute to the really tough stuff."

Kara Zor-El pauses. "But... I already know how to create cold fu-" she stops mid-sentence. "What ladder?"

Robin says, "The corporate ladder. Work your way up. You're not going to be just hired as head of research and development. It takes time, you have to prove you can do the job and show you can solve all manner of tough problems."

Kara Zor-El nods a little, slowly. "So something harder than cold fusion."

Robin sighs, "No, you start by solving the little problems. Projects that you're given. Gradually you're given more freedom to do your own projects, more difficult problems to solve."

Kara Zor-El pats the bed by her. "Like what?"

Robin sits down next to her. "I don't know. That'll be up to the eggheads at Wayne Industries. But it won't be anything you can't handle. But you have to be subtle. You need to not so mcuh lead them to solutions by the hand but by nudges in the right direction. You can't just do the work for them. It'd be too obvious."

Kara Zor-El nods a little. "Wish I didnt always have to hide that stuff." She shrugs a bit. "So.... how did you like the Fortress? Should I take you back home now?"

Robin smiles, "I..I really liked it, Kara. Thank you." he ponders that, "Yeah, it's probably a good idea."

Kara Zor-El leans over to you and gives you a hug. "We need to do this again."

Robin returns the hug with warmth and affection that ward off the chill of the fortress and the environment surrounding it, "I totally agree."

Kara Zor-El smiles. "Next time, I take you to this island I found in the south pacific. Unless it's your turn...."

Robin laughs, "My turn next, but I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to show you ANYTHING near as cool as what you can show me."

Kara Zor-El stands up. "What are you talking about, I loved the gorillas and jungle cats."

Robin slips on the Trenchcoat in a smooth motion as he stands up with you, "Well, if you can handle me showing you boring stuff like that and paintings, then okay." he says, his own self depreciation creeping in.

Kara Zor-El walks out with you, past all the insane trophies, the megalithic statues, the alien creatures... and opens the door. "I don't see anything at all boring about it. I love art." she says as she closes the door behind her, taking the neutronium key, locking it, and putting it back down. She then puts her arm around you. "Besides, Rezyllian thunder lizards and Faereixes I've seen.... Never seen an authentic signed Caravaggio"

Robin grins, "Then I'll just have to take you to the Gotham Museum of Art, then. They have everythign there." he stands outside the Fortress after you lead us out. "Plus..it's warmer." he says, blowing out a long breath of steam.

Kara Zor-El flies off with you, giving you a bit of a hug to her to keep you warmer. "If it had been me I'd have built the fortress in Guam." She says as you head off into the distance, towards Gotham.