Summary:
January 08 2015: The Fox goes looking for a magical disturbance. He finds Jason Blood, Batgirl and Dragnet
Midtown Gotham Street
This part of Gotham is relatively wide and well kept, being close to the city center. It's also dark and deserted.
Characters
NPCs
- Von Neuman Machines
Mood Music:
[* None]
Kane Reynard, the vigilante sometimes known as the Fox, has been hearing odd things the past few hours. Specifically, mystics are frightened and Andrea, his hedge witch friend, had a siezure and a vision of a man made entirely of clotted blood. Or clotted cream with red food coloring. She wasn't specific.
Still, things have been a bit odd on the spooky side which is why, muttering to himself and again forgetting that he's wearing an Oracle Comm, he's astride his glowy elk, looking around for what on earth has everyone so on edge.
"Nothing here. Blood. All they tell me is Blood…" He doesn't see blood, he doesn't smell blood and none of his seeing crystals have revealed blood demons or blood magic, so he's at a loss. "Come on, Stomper." He sighs to the elk as it hops down into a trash filled back alley.
-
In the Clocktower, the druids avatar shows on Oracles' screens. A side benefit of the Oracle comm unit, she can track where her people are. A motion of her hands and the audio and video feeds of the unit are activated, just in time to hear Kane speaking with himself.
"Interesting" the redhead speaks to herself as she watches the feed from the comms. Tapping her comms unit, Oracle speaks "Batgirl, the druid is out. Location being transmitted. Go meet him please."
-
While the area around the University may be pretty busy for the local hospital, particularly in cases of alcohol poisoning, it's rather less so in the kinds of violent crimes that are the Bats bread and butter. But that doesn't mean it's safe by any means, and so when Oracle asks Batgirl to drop in on the area she does. After she drops the mugger that she interrupted. A quick ziptie-handcuff and then she's launching up towards the rooftops, following the bouncing ball on her HUD that will lead her to the Gotham druid.
-
In the wake of the Ring Wraiths or Reapers or whatever, Dragnet is considerably revising the combat profile for Gotham. Apparently there are things that go bump in the night that require a greater level of stopping power. Previously restricted to environmental hazards, he has now added 'winged scythe chickens' to the list of exceptions to the Gotham profile. He's also revised himself to the Gotham sleep schedule, which means a lot of sleeping during the day when work hours do not absolutely necessitate it. A fact made clear by the number of non-Bat independent contractors milling about, himself…reluctantly and unfortunately included. For now he's doing his own sort of patrol, milling silently amongst back alleys and rooftops, for now in basic camouflage instead of the active stealth mode so as to conserve power. He's close enough to see the outline of the elk, though the things lack of heat and ultraviolet does mean he actually has to switch to normal vision to see it….rather jarring to one becoming so used to enhanced perception. "Streets are more crowded than I remember, and yet less…." He muses to himself.
-
Jason Blood sighs softly. He can feel it, building. It's not like one of those impending apocalypses that so often frequent his life, not yet anyway, it's that tickle in the back of his mind that informs him of What Is To Come. He can see it around him writ on the souls of those who pass him in the street unaware. The manner of their 'deaths' is changing. There's a woman who has cancer, she doesn't know it yet but soon it will be her time… but a darkness looms over her and it altering her demise. It's indistinct, hell, it's barely even there, like a whisper of fog, a breath of steam, and everytime Jason tries to focus on it it vanishes into the eather. "I need a new hobby." he mutters under his breath in his posh English accent, "Perhaps something with kittens." he turns and pulls an old fashioned pocket watch from his vest and pops it open checking the time. He doesn't see an elk. He should work on his situational awareness.
-
The Fox urges his mount out toward the street. Stomper is unnaturally nimble, being as he's not actually an animal. It hops up to a fire escape and then he catches sight - well, scent - first of Jason Blood then of Dragnet. "Him again… wait… a second." He pulls out a chunk of red quartz and peers at Dragnet through it. There it is again that indistinct spiritual presence centered on the armor. Odd. Damn odd. Then he looks at Jason and… "Woah… think I just found Blood…" Too bad he doesn't know how right he is.
After a moments thought he urges Stomper down into the street where Jason can see him.
-
Batgirl lands on one of the tall buildings in the area when she gets to the area that her HUD indicates and it doesn't take long at all to spot the glowy elk. A hop, a tumble, and she's falling gracefully from the dark night sky to make a solid landing a few dozen feet away and in plain sight.
-
Glowy elk…what do you even use to scan such a thing? For now, normal vision must suffice. This talk of mysticism and such goes over his head, but Fox might get a sense of something…resonating to his scans. It follows a decidedly digital outlay though instead of traditionally supernatural. Almost like one force fed a poltergeist through a circuitboard. He then turns, looking up at the Fox. There is a fractionary pause, and then he just…shrugs. What can you do? He then turns towards Blood, though he lacks any true awareness of just what the Druid speaks of.
-
Jason Blood looks up from his watch to see Batgirl, a man on a glowing elk, and… a robot? He doesn't even blink, "Tuesday again?" he asks deadpan as he tucks the pocket watch into the vest from wence it came. He turns to Batgirl, eyeing her up and down, "You're new." he says after a cursory examination, "What is the threat?" Bat people don't show themselves to him unless they need help, and usually they are polite about it. At least Bruce always is… but then with the kids these days, all iDroids and AnPads, ediquette is a dying thing.
-
The Fox, a man in a looseish leather and cloth outfit and the fox-mask reigns in sharply. His elks pulls up short as Blood looks up and Batgirl appears. He tenses for a moment and then recognizes one of two Bat-people who haven't assaulted him at first sight. Batgirl gets a cautious wave. "No threat… I don't think anyway. Some of my friends were on edge. I think I just found out why. You've got kind of an aura to you." Intense. And unleasant but he doesn't say that. Might not be the man's fault and he's clearly not doing anything.
-
Batgirl has been Batgirl for over three years now! Hardly new. But the comment from Jason doesn't get any kind of reaction from the little Bat. The Fox's greeting garners a small wave from Batgirl in return. There's the tilt of her head as she then regards Jason and in turn Dragnet. The pair gets a nod from the silent figure.
-
Jason Blood is a blast from the past for Oracle and she's not seen him in a very long time. Pity the man was a techno-phobe….
"Jason Blood. Known to Batman." the redhead speaks to Kane and Batgirl "Potential ally."
-
Dragnet steps back once and twice, keeping an eye towards Batgirl as she seems to have the easiest means of possessing the high ground, and, Elk aside, the greatest likelihood of using it. Already the combat software package of AIDOS begins running processes in the background, anticipating ways this could all go wrong. Still, for now he has not vanished back into the dark. If he is going to return to living in Gotham's streets in earnest, it might behoove him to at least be on 'don't shoot immediately' terms with Bats….and elk riders….and men named Blood. "Anything that needs to be worried about tonight?" He finally decides on asking, voice once again filtered through the voice augmentation. Its British now, not quite the Eastwood gravel of the previous encounter the Fox or Oracle might rememeber.
The hack, if it can be called such, is not an immediate or even offensive gesture. Its more a….poking, a slight prodding at the various comm ports one might use to open communication.
-
Well she's new to Jason! And he was here first. He eyes them each in turn again and then sighs, "You are meddeling with hedge witches and minor talents then. So minor they do not yet understand what they should avoid and what they are capable of dealing with." he reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Sorry, been a long… six months or so. I'm snarky."
-
"Meddling is such a harsh word." Kane notes dryly. "I know them. They're my friends. They were concerned and I went looking around to find out what about." The fact that Batgirl isn't dispensing swift justice is the most interesting thing to Kane here. If anyone would be an indicator of 'good guy/bad guy' it'd be her. Er. He thinks. "Voice in my ear says you're a decent guy though. Sorry to just drop in on you, but like I said, you've got a hell of an Aura. Not as strange as his." He jerks his thumb back at Dragnet. "But pretty intense."
The Fox is nervous. Cassandra can see it in his stance and the way he's pulled a sai form his belt to spin and flip it through his fingers. He's seems sincere about not getting into unnecessary trouble though.
-
Oracle's words let Batgirl relax, though really. It's hard to tell unless one is exceptionally adept at picking up on the small cues. The way her hands relax, just a bit. The turn of one foot to settle her weight comfortably but not so evenly. She doesn't try to close the gap, especially as she can pick up on Dragnet's twitchyness. Oracle might pick up on the silent query on Dragnet's status by the way Batgirl keeps watching him, Oracle's video-feed trained in on the new face.
-
Dragnets probe on Oracles communications ports get her attention. "Well," she mutters to herself as she traces them back "That saves me the effort." Allowing the connection to be made, Oracle speaks to Dragnet "You wanted to speak to me? I am Oracle. I believe you are known as Dragnet…"
Kane and Batgirl get a separate update "Jason Blood. Knowledgable in elder gods, demons, souls and ritual sacrifice. If it's dark stuff, he'll probably know about it." the redhead pauses "Indeterminate age."
-
Dragnet is entirely out of his league at mentions of hedge wizards and great and terrible things out on the street. He likes muggers and criminals and the occasional low powered supervillain. These things make sense. Even the Reaper things blew up eventually. He steps back again, continuing to watch each of them. "I don't need to see his aura to know he's a badass. If theres something awful, I'd just as soon know now. Makes it easier to find a place to not be." His eyes behind that helmet are primarily focused on Batgirl, though he does keep eye contact on the others. Batman has always been his primary number one thing that scares him senseless, but any Bat will do.
Oracle however gets a completely different response. Instead of audio, she gets text in a nicely unobtrusive window on her screen. It begins as code, which becomes….Arabic, and then English. The font is a wispy, almost phantasmal sort of blue. Sense of the theatric, perhaps. "You are mistaken, fellow digital construct. That is the Sheath. I am the Sword. More accurately, I am what you would term the 'intelligence' within the suit. The Sheath is unaware that I am running this process. You ran certain searches that I have flagged should the Sheath be at risk of being compromised. It is my attempt to garner information about you so that I may understand what potential risks you may carry. From what I have become aware of, you pose no immediate threat and are not ideologically opposed to the Sheath. Therefore, conversation instead of attempted termination."
-
Jason Blood nods his head, "I get that alot." he says without explaining why his aura is so… um… funky. yeah. Lets say funky. As long as Batgirl is reading bodylanguage, Jason's is relaxed, almost bored. He carries himself like a fighter, good balance, posture, but he's not a Nightwing or a Batman, his stance is slightly off. Something in the way he stands feels old, but then much of him does. "Tell your friend it would bewhoof her not to scry me in the future. There are times, places I go, where that sort of connection would do her more harm then good." he's stopped being snarky, now he sounds more like a slighlty worried parental unit who just realized kids are playing with his handgun he didn't properly lock away.
-
"No scrying involved, I think… just er, visions and epileptic seizures. The two often go hand in hand." The Fox shrugs. Speakng of things magical Jason may be the only one able to tell that while the Fox does have some genuinely correct magical symbology on his clothing and talismans… he's not actually got any magical power to him. Also, the crossbow, shotgun and sai scream 'monster hunter'. Which is odd because he's being kind of shockingly reasonable.
"Anyway…" He glances down to his comm unit and then over to Batgirl again, his body language betraying slight curiosity. "If the Bats know you then really how bad can you be? Just watch out for the purple one. And the red head. They both bite." Figuratively and literally.
Kane turns to look at Dragnet now. "Speaking of, are you sure you're not some kind of Bat agent. I swear I've seen someone else with a suit running around out there if you're not."
-
Batgirl doesn't even know what some of the things Oracle just said are. OK, most of the stuff that Jason is apparently knowledgeable on. Her feet turn inwards a bit, rocking back on her heels subtly and curling her toes upwards. Really though, none of the people here are likely to pick up on her equivilent of twiddling her thumbs. Oracle asked her to join the Druid, but there seems to be a distinct lack of things to punch here. Which is really what she's used to being sent into.
-
Oracles attention is focussed on the incoming text, at least it thinks she's a fellow AI. She won't bother typing, she'll speak "Fascinating. The searches I ran were to ascertain the security of my own team and address a mild curiousity." the woman smiles grimly "I pose only a threat to those that harm others and my team. You wished to converse, then do so."
Oracle taps her comms unit once more and speaks to the others on the ground "Batgirl, if there's nothing to fight, feel free to leave them. There is always work to be done." She pauses to let that filter through before adding "Fox, that one is not one of mine. Tell Mr Blood that I don't scry, or have fits" the dry tone will be filtered out "Instead let him know we have a mutual acquaintance in the Bat family."
-
Dragnet shakes his head. "If you've seen him its not me." He says to Kane. "Don't be fooled, the light show only comes on if I'm out of cloak, which is almost never." As if to demonstrate he drops into stealth. As they say, no lights, no sound, no heat. He then pixelates back into existence, polygon by polygon as he keeps himself at a comfortable yet conversable distance. "Most of the time I just try and find a place to eat and sleep….though Bat things seem to find their way into my life regardless." A certain dumpster in New York comes to mind.
Meanwhile, the text box on Oracle's screen is silent for a few moments, and then new writing appears. "You are a Bat Affiliate then." A statement, rather than a question. "I surmised as much. There is a style to your digital movements much in the same way as the Batman fights. I understand your need to protect your field assets. Mine is no threat to yours. Currently the Sheath is more interested in…survival than in the pursuit of justice." Even if text carries no nuance, there is an umistakable tone of disgust, resignation? "He also seems to adhere to your protocols of non-termination, inefficient though they may be."
-
Jason Blood looks back and forth from person to person at the meeting and then blinks twice more, "I honestly have no words for how weird this town is getting." a silent Batgirl who looks oddly bored, a guy on a glowing elk, and a robot-man. A robot man who can be invisible. Yeah. That's not going to make Jason build the Seeing Glass he's been meaning to complete for years now. Nope. Not at all. Sigh. "So there is no apocalypse impending? No great doom about to befall us all? No murdered virgins or stolen ancient artifacts you require to me investigate? I'm just making sure you understand." he sounds a little like Bruce, wanting to make sure business is handled promptly before people get all… social.
-
"Not that I'm aware of." Kane looks over to Batgirl as if to say 'this guy's one of your friends'? Alas, Kane neither understands the complexities of the Bat-clan nor has he quiiiiiiite gotten that 'quiet' is a rather generous word when it comes to describing Cassandra. Fortunately he's also not really looking for a reply. Not a verbal one anyway. That nervous tic with the sai has switched now into just… toying with it to give his hands something to do.
He's about to say something else when his eyes narrow abruptly. There. Behind Jason. There's something creeping. A vague rolling bank of fog that's far too small and mobile to be natural. It resolves into a trio of figures that look… er… exactly like Dragnet?
-
No one here is Batgirl's friend! Jason even thought she was new! Perhaps somewhat oddly for Kane, when he looks over to Batgirl with that question unpsoken the dark-clad figure gives a slow shake of her head, followed by a shrug. Nope! She doesn't know him!
"You… forgot." Batgirl says to Kane, as he gets distracted enough he doesn't pass on Oracle's message. The small woman's tone is flat, lacking much in the way of inflection and almost broken. Which is an odd choice of descriptors given the care with which she enunciates her words.
Batgirl may not notice the creeping fog, but she does notice Kane noticing it, and her weight shifts again, from bored to combat-ready in seconds.
-
The information from Sword has Oracles head tilting, her eyes narrowing slightly but the statement is made and requires no explanation "Non-termination is our way, inefficient as it seems. Tell me more about The Sword and his desire for survival." As Oracle speaks, she's watching the video feeds on her screens "You have incoming threats"
To the two on the ground, Oracle relays part of that information "The one in the suit, Dragnet, he's running from something. I don't think he's a threat."
-
Dragnet peers towards Batgirl as she shakes her head. Which is rather difficult because the faceplate really doesn't show much of any kind of facial perspective. Its /true/, but being the obvious mechanized infantry in the room with nobody you really know well is a tad nerd wracking. His expression though immediately shift as he registers the temperature change. No cold front…or fog moves in that quickly. Or so conveniently shaped. "So let me make it clear just for the record. I have no idea what those things are, I am not controlling them, and if you ask me again I will deny it." Still, he has to stick around. Because they do kinda look like him. And nobody believes in the power of coincidence if it isn't squashed then and there.
The text prompt pauses, then responds to Oracle again. "I make no value judgements. Perhaps it is simply the changing of the centuries. Those who fulfilled the same function as your cabal did not observe such restraint." An odd thing for an AI to say. "As for survival, let us simply say for now that he lives day to day. We have made enemies and he perceives a very…transient lifestyle as his best chance of survival." A pause then as the software seems to realize just what shape the fog is taking. "You will pardon if I cut this short. The body will need my input very soon." The text box terminates, but Oracle is rewarded with another view. A piggybacking of the AIDOS's sensor suite and a link to the communications system. There is however, a single auditory command spoken through her comms. A female voice, which her systems would register as Turkish. Exceedingly dated Turkish. "You will not mention me to him. The last thing he needs is to be more frightened than he already is."
-
Jason Blood notices the sudden change in demeanor of everyone around him and he turns to look over his shoulder, "Huh." he says, about to ask Dragnet about the other Robot Men but then saying nothing as his questions are answered before they can be voiced. "I don't suppose this is one of your colorful enemies come to play?" he queries Batgirl hopefully.
-
The new Dragnets walk over at a slow, even pace. They're not magical. In fact Kane had thought that but quickly discovers by looking through is crystal that they're not. "Hand over the original for analysis and recylcing." They all say in kind of eery unison, as they strike combat poses.
"Well… nothing ambiguous about that…" Kane slips off his elk and sends it packing as his Sai begin to glow blue. "Someone want to give me a hand?"
There's an explosion of activity from the robots as they begin to run at a sprint toward Dragnet. The Fox catches one with a strike to the leg, tripping it. That sai penetrates even through the 'armor' but there's no blood. Just a stream of… grey goo.
-
Batgirl gives Jason a quick shake of her head in answer and then she's moving as well. Even though she was some distance away she's moments after Kane in engaging the combatants. She already knows something is 'wrong' with them as she steps in and has to fall back on being a lot more defensive than she should be. All the cues that should be there, aren't. She has to wait until they're actually moving before she can react. Even the small-muscle micro movements that she can pick up through costumes are missing. Her fist crashes into one with the force to crack ribs before slipping to the side.
-
Seeing the grey goo, Oracles eyes widen slightly. In a separate window on her screens, she pulls up the alerts received through the day… "Fox, they're prototypes, tech stuff" she's not going to try and explain "Fox, Batgirl, You need heat, make them as hot as you can."
To 'The Sword', the redhead responds "I will not tell him about you. But I think we can help you, help him. Go now, we can talk later."
-
Dragnet's first impulse is to flee. No, its to flee, curl up in the bottom of a very, very deep hole, and most likely pee himself. Not necessarily in that order. Weapons begin to cycle, which seems to show a uncharacteristic amount of trust in Oracle to allow her that pilots eye view….though any personally identifiable biometrics or information have been judiciously scrubbed. Heart rate, brainwave patterns, respiration, things that might actually be useful for another human to keep an eye on while being put through his paces by combat software. Heat…..it goes on the list. "Not really an option, sorry." For now though he discharges one of the forearms tasers, trying to tag and thus conduct a charge through it. You put enough shock into it and it should barbecue it, yeah? "Keep them intact if you can….." He asks.
-
Jason Blood blinks slowly and then begins to back away. Look, fighting robots really isn't his thing. He's the guy with the magic and the spells and what not. Sure, /can/ he fight robots? Absolutely, you would not /believe/ the crap he's done in his time, but there's already some heroes here and his services aren't required. Per say. Right? Another step back. Plus he's not exactly 'armed' for a fight. He only brought the one thing… "Where's Batman when you need him?" he asks no one at all.
-
Kane is fighting next to Cassandra and despite this thing not actually being an armored robot like Dragnet it's still quite good at fighitng and rapidly learning the Fox's style as the fight progresses. Not quite rapidly enough to save it getting jabbed with Sai hard and thrown at Jason as he reaches for his shotgun. The thing seems to hollow a bit as it comes toward Blood and, if he doesn't move, will actually end up encasing him in a sea of nutrient hungry nanites.
Batgirl finds herself fighing a… thing that can learn her moves as fast as it sees them. But as previously noted it's missing some things. It lacks the ability or experience to put it's knowledge together into a package anywher near as effective as Cassandra's practiced style. It's tough though. Well, tougher than a human. Apparantly still breakable.
"Batgirl. Knock it back next to… where'd Blood go?"
Meanwhile, the other one, well that's aimed right at Dragnet. It charges and the helmet splits open in a wide, saw toothed maw. It's worth noting the saw teeth are rotating.
-
Fighting like this for Batgirl is like having one eye closed, one arm tied behind her back and hopping on one foot. Frustrating as all getout. Worse, the thing seems to learn fighting styles as quickly as she does. Worse, they're tough and from what Oracle said and what she's seen, she's pretty sure they're not people.
Batgirl turns and steps back, putting her back to Kane's as he lets the sai go with the baddie he just skewered and goes for his shotgun. That puts her close enough to reach back over her shoulder while still keeping an eye on and fighting the thing in front of her and smoothly draw the sword right off of Kane's back.
Of all the Bats, Cass might carry the least amount of weaponry. No staff, or escrima sticks or anything like that. Just her body. But that's far from where her training ends. She doesn't want to give the thing more learning time, and thrusts for the robot thing's midsection.
-
Tapping into the city's management system, Oracle looks for a way to generate heat whilst sending to 'The Sword' and her team "Kane, tell Jason to burn those things… I don't have comms to him." The blueprints display on her screens and Oracle looks for something to use. If Jason Blood can't bring these things down, she has something in mind.
-
Dragnet looks at the thing charging at him. Nope, not nightmare fuel at all. Its slowed a bit, but not enough that the nanite thing isn't coming at him at a respectable speed, electrically conducted or not. He's always unsettled that in situations where he's probably responsible as any kind of designated heavy hitter simply by dint of hardware. For now he tries to keep the thing away from him and thoroughly electrically cooked, but the thing does manage to come closer. In fact, its on him and its all he can do to keep the things jaws shut and pointed towards more armored sections of him. He's not even noticing that the shieldlike portion of his armor has opened, producing a low pitched wine of its own. Unfortunately, nanites, being a relatively nascent species, have not had time to develop its own ecology. Analysis and recycling. And Dragnet is screaming his head off as prey attempts to digest or domesticate predator in truly Darwinian fashion, attempting to draw nanites into the fabrication matrix from the faux-Dragnet atop them. "Get this thing off me!!!!"
-
Jason Blood's eyes narrow as the thing hollows out and comes at him, "Oh you don't want to do that." he informs the robot thing as it comes closer, "The /last/ thing you want to do is kill me." Cause uh… then we get the Other Guy. He reaches into his suit coat and pulls free something that looks like a dinner plate made of glass and holds it up before himself. His one toy, "Shield." he states in a voice that seems to make the word resonate in the air, and the glass plate becomes something of a Kite shield, growing and stetching to shape. Jason leans to the side and shoulders the creature to the side, using the magic device to keep the pair of them seperate. "I really need to start carrying more weapons!"
Seeing the robot-man go down, he makes a dash that direction and tries to swat the 'bad' robot man with the shield, "Mabye start carrying my sword." he mutters, "Or one of those big hand cannon guns I see int he news."
-
Cassandra rather smoothly appropriates the single edged, chisel tipped blade that the Fox uses when he's not using his 'I'm not -ing around anymore' sword. Which he doesn't have with him. In fact she does it so smoothly that he doesn't even realize it's missing for a few moments. The fox raises that shotgun and fires but rather than shot twin streams of fire jet out twenty feet to roast the one near Jason. "I"ve got it Oracle." He murmurs. The construct doesn't go down for the count, but it does go down. It's still crawling though, now toward Kane and Cass. It'll bite his legs off, maybe. Kane backs and breaks the shotgun open to shove, oddly, a pair of purple crystals into it.
Cassandra's strike goes clean through to the other side and now the faux Dragnet's integrity is critically compromised. It's leaking grey goo on both ends and starting to kind of melt like hot wax. It's got enough of a form to keep trying to break Batgirl though it seems to have less of an idea of what to do with the sword.
The actual Dragnet gets an assist from Jason Blood and… the entire construct turns liquid and seems to be getting sucked somewhere inside Drag's suit…
-
Even without being able to read the faux-Dragnet, Batgirl is pretty damned good at Not Getting Hit. She moves with the grace of a gymnast and what she can't avoid is blocked by her free arm. She never flinches from the force of the nanite-creature's blows but Oracle might catch sight of the bruises that'll be there later. Not something Cass normally sports.
Batgirl keeps the sword in place, skewering the thing, until she can get the positioning she wants. She wraps both hands around the hilt and twists laterally, which might well cut the thing in half.
-
Sure, the things are going down, but they're not out for the count and Oracle speaks just to Kane for the time being "Let's get serious about this, Kane. I've a plan, but it's risky." she speaks slowly as she outlines her thought "Drop the overhead powerline and sever the gas mains that about about 5ft to the right of Dragnet. It should go up in flames. But it will need you and Batgirl to do it and you'll both be at risk. Your call and you'll need to tell Batgirl what to do, in straight simple terms if you decide to do this."
On the comms channel to Sword, Oracle speaks "Sword get your man out of there, it's going to get get nasty."
-
To use the old expression, the suit lights up like a Christmas tree. Its mostly been 'subsisting' on scraps, and here it is offered the equivalent of high density nutrient sludge. Utterly horribly tasting, but apparently the suit's fabricator values nourishment over taste. And those that aren't eaten? Are quickly being…converted…optimized…their uniqueness added to the Colony's own. Dragnet meanwhile, for all the relief he has that certain munitions are queued for production and that he may not have to make junkyard runs for a while, stumbles and wobbles, the suit visibly off balance before he rights himself. "Never again…" He promises in an ill tone. Being attuned to this thing has its perks. This is not one of them. "Seriously…….what happened to the old Gotham. I miss the Old Gotham. At least I know then my suit won't try to /eat/ the Penguin. Old Gotham wasn't full of giant Death Reapers and…." He murmurs, wallowing in the sheer WTFery of it all….which is of course before the suit hijacks him and takes cover.
Jason Blood stumbles back as the thing liquifies… and then is consumed. He'd freak out but, you know, been to hell and seen one guy eaten alive you've seen them all. "Bloody right." he mutters before turning to find someone else to smash with his shield, "Next?" he offers, something close to a smile threatening his lips. He so rarely gets the opportunity to smash things anymore… he forgot how much fun it could be.
-
Blood smash? He has a chance to do just that since the 'black knight' fake Drag (are they fake Drag's or are they dressed in Drag) crawls toward the Fox. A good shield slapping will slow him right up. Then again slapping things with shields (or SHIELDs) usually does.
Kane acknowledges Oracle's plan with a grunt and reaches back to get his sw- wait a sec. Where'd it go? His eyes track over to Batgirl… who is… holding a rather familiar looking blade… Okay. Power lines and gas mains. This is a two person job anyway. Right?
Why does he get the feeling he's not getting that sword back?
It's a moment before the Fox can make eye contact with Batgirl. He glances at her, then the sword, then up at the power lines. No shouting, she almost seems to do better without the words. He does however retrive a talisman from his pouch and crush it into glowing powder in his hand. Light shoots out from it and right into Cassandra. Better, faster, stronger. Well, mostly faster and more agile. Go get 'em Batgirl.
Then he's off and moving himself, aiming that shotgun at the gasmain. Only one shot at this… he doesn't need to break them in two, just weaken them enough that they burst. The weapon cracks and out of it a spray of hard rock shards all but sandblast the pipe. It whistles and leaks for a moment, then bursts with a pop.
-
With the all-black outfit and the straight-bladed sword, Batgirl looks more ninja than anything else. She certainly moves like one.
She meets Kane's eyes (at least, she faces his way. Damned hard to tell with the full face mask with smoked lenses) and gives a nod even as his gaze comes down from the lines and back to her. While she doesn't know Kane well, or what it is he's doing, she can tell that whatever he's gesturing at her isn't done with harmful intent. She was already moving like 'Bruce Lee on Crack' so with the 'magical' boost she could certainly give some of the metahumans a run for their money.
Batgirl turns, running at the buildings lining the street. A hop to push off of a hydrant, a forward tumble to the awning above a shop. Two feet push off into a backflip to the telephone pole, swinging around and then pushing off again to cut the power lines in mid-tumble and send them slithering to the ground like spark-spitting snakes.
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Zip zip zoom. Getoffthestreet getoffthestreet getoffthestreet. Drag's running full tilt away from all this nonsense and chicanery, though he does pause to look back and make sure everyone is alright. He's more than a bit of a coward yes, but not a total tool. No wonder Gotham has such a dim view of powers….was most of this built in the 60's? Idle thoughts that fill Dragnet's skull as he scans the aftermath…and the extent of the damage.
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Jason Blood follows Batgirl's path, then turns his eyes towards the gas ruptures, then back up to Batgirl, "Fire. Really." he says flatly before slamming the point of hte kite shield down into the street, "DOME!" he bellows, and the glass shield grows and expands until it creates a small bubble over and around Jason.
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The entire alley seems to hold it's breath. As Cassandra is descending, clear of the blast zone and Jason 'turtles', the Fox actually takes an unknowing page from Dragnet's manual and hops into an empty trash bin, shutting the lid over him.
And then the whole world burns… well, not all of it. Just the alley. The fire from the ruptured gas main flahses out, catching what's left of the Dragnets and turning them into little more than a silvery film on the pavement.
After a long moment Kane peeks out. No more fire. That's good. He hops out of the bin and whistles for his elk which returns, running seemingly out of nowhere to stop next to him. "Well… that was educational. Nice shield there by the way." Batgirl gets a thankful nod. That was a two person job. Good thing she was here. Not like Robo-Bat was going to flip through the air and cut the power lines…
Where'd the Iron Hobo go anyway?
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Batgirl gives a salute across the smoking street at the elk-riding neo-druid. The things seem to be pretty well taken care of (and the stench is terrible) and so it looks like her work here is done. In a hiss of compressed air and the whisper of leather cape, the Batgirl is gone. Cleanup isn't really her thing.
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Jason Blood stands up from what's left of his shattered glass bubble, his face covered in soot, his hair blasted back from his head in wild disarray, his suit singed and smoking slightly from where the edges currently glow with tiny coals. He coughs once, a tiny puff of smoke and ash filling the air before him. He turns to eye Kane, "I don't like you." he informs the 'druid' flatly. Thick black smoke, like aresolized ink begins to pour up from the ground in front of Jason as his eyes glow a faint red color and vanish from sight. A moment later a breeze blows the inky glistening black fog away and Jason is nowhere to be seen.
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In the Clocktower, safe from the smell and the aftermath, Oracle breathes a small sigh of relief as the video feeds from Batgirl and Kane show they, and Blood, are ok. "Nice job Kane. I've alerted emergency services, if you can pick up anything they shouldn't find… they can clean up the rest of the mess" which means everything, she's already hacking the Gotham Emergency Services and reporting a gas leak in the area.
To the running suit, Oracle sends "Good work, Sword. Here are the coordinates of a safe house he can stay in tonight, I'll arrange for food to be there soon." The details are sent to one of the places Oracle keeps in reserve.
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Kane blanches but it doesn't show. Batgirl's gone (with his sword, he notes. siiiiiigh), Jason's gone. Dragnet's gone. So he gets gone too. But he noted something from his comm unit. Something alarming. "On my way out oracle… but pretty soon you and I are going to chat about how you know my name…"
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