章 30: Press Gang

After a day of getting a crash course on how to push a broom around a mechanic shop, evening came and I remained hopeful that the basic mechanical knowledge I had shown to Arnie would shorten my time behind the broom.

I sat on the roof, A bit curious if Robin would show for tonight's rounds. Last night may have seemed a little rough to him but quite simply, I didn't care about his feelings. I am not doing this to be in his good graces or to join the Bat family. I honestly find their brand of catch for the courts to release, crime fighting philosophy a half measure.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not the kill em all type, but there is a level of too dangerous for society to live, that I am ok with killing. I will not kill 1000 to insure I kill the 1 bad one, but I sure won't let the bad 1 that has killed 1000 go because they have a sob story.

As nice as it would be for the law to be black and white, I just don't see a way for that to be true justice. The Yin Yang symbol from ancient China represents the most basic of ideas for me. A wrong can be done for the right reason, and a right can cause irreparable harm. It is up to us to decide. Though I am a sucker for a lot of old sayings like the two Wolves of love and hate in every person and many others.

Hearing footsteps behind me I turn to see Robin, "You waited for the wind to shift before jumping over here, smart. What's our goal tonight? More drug dealers?" I asked.

That's right, my plan for dealing with last night's unpleasantness was to simply ignore it. I don't plan to change his mind about his sense of justice and I surely didn't plan to listen to him preach his ways to me.

"About last night." Robin started before being interrupted.

"Leave it where it is, in the past. You don't approve of some of my methods and I don't plan to change for you. That doesn't mean we can't work together or even be friends. Not everyone is going to agree with everything you think and if you plan to have only people who do around you then you will be a very lonely guy." I stop there not wanting to turn this into any more of a life lesson that it already is.

"You like to preach to people don't you Gar? You sound an awful lot like the Autobot leader from an old cartoon I liked to watch. Turning every moment into a learning experience. It's irritating. Anyway, Devilbat says there are a lot of homeless people going missing in The Bowery and Barr Town. That's Scarface's town but he says he knows nothing about it and he isn't the type to make things difficult for common people.

In a city of over 10 million it would be hard to notice the disappearance of 70-100 people over the course of weeks. Who but the Devilbat would notice?

"Lead the way, my trusty guide." I say as I change into the shape of an Owl. It has become my most used form so far and I love the feeling of flying so effortlessly.

Robin heads south and I follow. After following him for a time he stopped and flagged me down. I landed and changed back to human to see what he had to say.

"You know, you could have just connected us mentally." Robin says

"Oh yeah, I have it so suppressed to keep the random thoughts out I forget I can still use it partially sometimes. I need to practice more I guess." I Said.

"Anyway, this is the area that most of the missing usually stay." He points to a few alleyways in front of us.

Looking around I notice a lot of elderly homeless people that are in bad shape physically. Most are missing limbs or just so old that they can barely move.

Thinking for a moment, I ask Robin. "Is the homeless population here just the old and crippled? I am used to seeing at least a few able bodied mixed in with others in my old life. Or are the gangs just good at pulling in the able bodied to increase their numbers?"

Robin frowns and says, "No, that is unusual for this area. Let's move around some and see if it has become normal in this area. Meet back here in 15." After he says that he starts moving and I change back to an owl and head the opposite way.

When we grouped back up, I said, "All I saw were maybe three or four able bodied people. The rest were very old or lame. What about you?"

"Same for me, it's as if an old press gang came through recently." Robin said.

"Let's float around here and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Something like a big van or someone handing out cards that promise food or easy work." He went on.

"Ok, I'll also try to form a link with you and keep it open. You may get a few random thoughts from it here and there but nothing too obtrusive. Let me know if it bugs you, I can shut it down." I tell him

I take to the air and start searching in a square pattern forcing myself to remail focused on what I was looking for.

{I may have something on my side, a couple guys just got approached about a manual labor job. They declined but the offering party had more people and forced them into a green minivan.} Robin said across our mind connection.

{Well unfortunately Owls are colorblind so hopefully there won't be many minivans running tonight.} I tell him.

{Well, the fact that I'm running alongside it on the rooftops should clue you in too what one you need to watch. Hurry, as soon as they are out of these alleyways, I won't be able to keep up with them.} He says with some amusement.

Pulling up to a higher altitude I spot the boy wonder running and in turn see the vehicle he is tailing. {No worries, I got it in sight and won't lose it. Well so long as there are no tunnels nearby.} I say trying to keep the humor going.

After about 15 minutes of driving, I see the minivan pull into a warehouse and tell Robin. {That Minivan you had me tail has gone into a warehouse next to the Crowne Point Park, I'm circling it to make sure they aren't just pulling through it to lose anyone following.}

{I'll be there in just a few minutes; we can link up then.} Robin Replies.

Once he gets there he thinks, {Stay airborne and keep an eye out, I'll look around in the warehouse.}

Not waiting for a reply, I saw him use his cape as a glider to get to the roof of the warehouse. Shortly after that I lost sight of him.

{All I see in here are tire tracks, the minivan isn't in here.} Robin tells me

Before I could reply I saw a large Humvee headed down the street towards the warehouse. {Robin I got a Humvee headed you way and its way to decked out to be in this neighborhood. Now that's just stupid, who takes a Humvee and makes it a lowrider?}

{Did you say a lowrider Humvee?} Robin asked.

{Well, I thought it but yes. Is there some significance to this?} I ask.

{Hurry and get in here, that is Boss Biggis vehicle. There would be a huge war if Scarface found him in his territory. There must be something important for him to risk coming here. Scarface has enough manpower to smash Boss Biggis flat.} Robin said.

Squeezing my way in through a broken window I looked to see where Robing was but what caught my eyes was a piece of floor lifted and the Humvee driving down a ramp. It hit me at that moment that this was the reason the minivan wasn't in here.

{I can't get an angle to get to the ramp without being seen Logan, if you have a shot go for it and keep the link open to let me know what's going on.} Robin tells me.

I quickly switched to a bat form because of the size difference, and I wasn't going for long distance flight here but quick and maneuverable. I managed to get to the ramp just before it closed and swoop directly above the Humvee to avoid any motion on the rearview mirrors.