Summary:Things are heating up in Staten - and it's intergang violence that needs to be watched. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Witching hour in Staten Island which most people are home in bed dreaming of turkey and cranberry sauce … or something like that. Not the Bats though - this is their time. They prowl through the night watching for trouble and dealing with it.
And contrary to what a certain Samurai thinks, they are not a Crime Family.
There's been rumours about strange beings taking over the streets in Staten. Werewolves, Redcaps, Pixies and more. Most are dismissing that as idle fantasy or drug fueled fantasy - but one thing is for certain, the Hand has been pushed out and the gangs seem to be getting organised.
Tonight, there's a ruckus at one of the warehouses. A warehouse known to be the headquarters of the Brave Vests - a minor gang that doesn't cause *much* trouble - and whilst this wouldn't be normally be the purview of the Bats to sort out, it *is* spilling out onto the streets.
Gun shots have been fired and there's a brawl in the middle of the street. It needs breaking up before someone innocent gets hurt.
Spider-Man had made Staten Island one of his patrol routes. He's heard of the Bats in Staten's belfry, and he tries to stay out of their way. They spook him.
But his own big-game hunter is dead, and he has to get back to work.
When the report of shots fired comes over the Spider-Comm system, a waypoint appears, as well as a distance. <3.2 Miles>
Might as well be down the street.
Spidey leaps into action, leaving the info on the Spider-Comm network in case any other Spiders want to get involved.
Magic. It's not something Batman has ever been excited about. And of course, he has no belief that this is /real/ magic. But just something using the magic card to their own devices. From a nearby building, the lone figure is without his colorful companion tonight as the dark greys and blacks of the guardian of Staten Island moves from building to building, the zipline firing and pulling him along with ease. He lands with a heavy thud on the rooftop near the sounds of the gunfire and his lenses flare and then narrow.
The Brave Vests were always a minor annoyances. In a land where the word Jokerz invokes fear, the lower caste gangs always fight for the scraps, and Batman is pretty much assuming it is that. Landing on the rooftop overlooking the warehouse, there's a curl to Batman's lips as he takes in the immediate situation. Dropping several small balls into his hand, he flings them outwards, slinging them out.
Hitting and bouncing along the ground, they explode into a cloud of smoke, thick and choking, meant to break up the party immediately - and to warn them. Danger is in the air. And it will soon upon them. Then he sees the flash of red and blue tights, and the older vigilante frowns. This is getting to be habit.
And it's not one he approves of.
As it turns out, there is another Spider in the area, and it seems she'd like to get involved. Spider-Woman picks up the info on the comms, and does an about face to head back towards Staten Island herself. Spider-Man will still get there first, certainly; he's a lot more experienced at webslinging.
<I'm coming,> she voices into the Spider-Comms, just to make sure Spidey knows he's got backup. She rounds a corner, and then a bright idea occus to her; she lands on the roof of a city bus and stands on it, letting it drive towards the part of Staten Island where the warehouse is located, and takes the time to pull out her phone to shut off her music, and put it away again.
<Let me know when you get there,> She adds, <I'll probably be right behind you.>
Those who have link to the rumor mill in the underbelly of the city had heard mutterings of something going down tonight. And since curiosity hasn't killed her yet, the Black Cat had decided to be nearby, just in case anything interesting went down. At this point, however, interesting is certainly going down.
On the perimeter, slowly descending on a cable like a curvaceous wrecking ball, is a woman in a patent leather catsuit with white fur trim. Her domino mask frames aqua eyes delicately, as she rakes her fingers through silver hair. "C'mon boys, can't we all just get along?"
As the heroes arrive, two large Werewolves are attacking a gang of humans. They, the werewolves, accompanied by ten other humans - all wearing a patch denoting a head with snakes for hair.
Batmans smoke bombs certainly the cause the twelve Brave Vests to scatter, heading for alleys and dark spaces to disappear in. They're pretty smart for a street gang, really. The others though turn their attention to patch of smoke, opening fire right into the middle of it. Felicia's descent is marked by the glowing yellow eyes of a wolf-man, who lets out a growling type of laugh "Want to play with us Kitten? Come on down." he taunts.
Gwen and Peter arrive in time to see all this plus the flash of yellow as another black clad figure lands on a fire stair just above the melee. A batarang flings out, knocking the barrels of two rifles wide.
Batman, Batgirl is on location. Oracle reports to the Goddamn Batman. I'm trying to get comms with the others that are appearing. The others. The Spiders, Oracle means.
Roaches. Like the roaches they are the gangbangers spread out. The werecreatures get his attention however. The roaches can wait. They'll come out again. When they think they're safe. The alert in the Bat's cowl gets his attention and his voice is gruff and terse in response. I didn't invite them here. Did she? he asks Oracle flatly, before she mentions she's trying to make contact. Okay. Probably hack the spider-comm. Leave no backdoor for them to use. it's his only advisement on the matter as Batgirl makes her appearance.
Following her lead, Batman launches from the rooftop and his cape flutters and then stiffens into a glider as the lines within it go taunt and he descends quickly towards the fray. And he aims to slam directly into the back of one of the wolfmen distracted by Felicia. As much as he would if Selina had offered a distraction. "Down boy." he snaps in a snarl.
He admits it freely. He is startled. For a few moments, but that is enough. Humanoid wolves.
Absurdly, he thinks of the tagline from an old horror movie: "From the people who brought you ANIMAL HOUSE…a DIFFERENT kind of animal."
He spots Batman immediately as he goes to fend off the one menacing…oh, crap in a hat, is that the CAT?
But he has faced off against monsters before and he goes after the other wolfman. As he descends, he fires two tight sprays of webs to see if he can web the big dog's feet/paws to the pavement.
Gwen arrives, just after Spider-Man; she stands up on a rooftop next to the warehouse in question, and unslings her backpack, leaving it on the roof beside her. No need for that to get in the way. Seems the party is already in full swing; and are those… werewolves down there?
<Spidey, are those werewolves?> she inquires, over the as-yet unhacked Spider-Comms. <Oh well, they can't possibly be as bad as interdimensional vampires. I already watched Underworld.> As she's speaking, she's already jumping off the side of the building, and descending on a webline to get to a better position. If Spider-Man is going for one of the wolfmen, then it seems like a good opportunity for a team-up; she opens up with her web-shooters, looking to get the werewolf's arms all… webbed up. Might as well aim to maximize inconvenience.
The Black Cat saunters, unfettered, toward the wolf that had taunted her. But she stops a few steps in, as a figure slams into the wolf. "Aww~"
Then, she becomes distracted by another shiny. "Ooh…Spidey." And with a jump, she grabs onto a fire escape and flips up into the metal grate, moving quickly in the direction of the spiders. Always vigilant, however, of the Bat and the Wolf that has been distracted from his distraction. She arches a brow, surveying for the very moment where the fray stands, before she is ready to dive in. The trick to always landing on your feet is being certain of where you intend to land.
"Of course not." Comes Oracles reply to Batman. With they're androgynous tone it's hard to tell - but Oracle might be a little miffed. "And of course I won't leave backdoor. I *am* a professional you know." Batman might almost hear Barbara's tone because he knows her so well.
Spideys' web certainly does get the wolves feet stuck to the pavement. It's claws slashing at the webbing to try and get free. When that fails, it turns its weapon on Gwen, spraying bullets in her direction. Some of her webbing hits, sticking to its arm - it manages to sway just enough to avoid being pinned. "Aroooooo". The sound is frightful and echoes down street and across the city. He pulls his arm sharply - strong enough to launch Gwen off her feet.
Batmans wolf goes tumbling, tangled up with the caped crusader. "Are you sure you don't want to play, Kitty. Our mistress would like you… you'll fit well in our plans for the area." Batman finds himself heaved off with superhuman strength and sent flying as the wolfman gains his feet and throws himself in that direction. This is going to be a brawl unless Batman can get some distance.
This is Oracle. If you are one of the Spiders and can hear this, please respond.
Batgirl turns her attention to the human counterparts. Another batarang sends two more weapons flying. "Eyes and Ears." Her modulated voice gives scant warning as she lobs a flash bang at the feet of the thugs. Three, two, one. BANG. Bright lights and loud sounds go off.
<I believe someone is trying to contact us, Spider-Man.>
"Patch them in," Spidey says quickly as he assesses the situation. Batman's "dance partner" is looking a little too spry.
Well, that he can fix.
As he catapults himself towards the partially-webbed werewolf Gwen and he are focusing on, he fires a ball towards Batsy's opponent. The ball lands about a foot behind the big furry monster, and then it goes off, spraying the lower half of the werewolf in webbing. A moment before it goes off, Spider-Man is throwing an airborne haymaker at his own dog-soldier, trying to put him down for the count.
Heaved off, Batman flies through the air twisting and turning with athletic skill as he lands on his feet. He slides back a few more feet as a pair of batarangs fly out towards the wolfman. They explode when they get close. Hearing Batgirl's warning, the lenses of the cowl immediately go dark and seal as he goes into a blind fighting mode. While the wolf manages to get in a few blows against the armor of the vigilante, the Batman gives only the slightest of grunts until the flash bangs go off.
His hands drop to his sides as he steps back, avoiding a swipe as everything comes back on line, and from either hip he pulls out a pair of electricied brass knuckles to meet the attacker head-on. His attack is timed with Spider-Man's, using the webbing to his advantage to slow down the creature as he throws a pair of electrified punches into the mid-section of the creature, before following it up with an overhand haymaker.
"This? This is what I live for~" Cat replies to the beckoning wolf, as she fires a small titanium hook from her wrist toward an adjactent fire escape and swings on the attached cable toward him, but wide. The Bat makes things go boom, and she doesn't want any part of getting too close to /that/. She waits until the two are locked in a bout of fisticuffs, and then drops silently to the ground behind the wolf.
The hairs on the back of Gwen's neck all stands up on end; she drops down on the wall, just in time for a bunch of bullets to pepper the wall where she had been, sending little fragments flying all over but managing not to put a bunch of holes in, well, her.
<Spider-Man these guys are re-wwaaAAAAUUuuugh!" Well, that backfired; Gwen finds herself launched through the air; she twists and lands on her feet, skidding to a stop in a crouch, just in time to get yanked towards the wolf again. <Rude,> she finishes, still holding on to the webline, and running across the pavement towards the wolf who just sprayed bullets at her. "Hey pooch!" she shouts at him, diving forwards and reaching for his gun; she doesn't want it, really, she just doesn't want him to have it. Her hands connect with it, but dooesn't manage to get it out of his grip. "Mine!" she shouts at him, getting swung around as she wrestles. "Bad Yorkshire Terrier! No cookie! NO COOKIE! Don't make me get the rolled up newspaper!"
"Aroooooo" The webbed up Werewolf howls again, muzzle snapping off to the side as he's hit. That doesn't stop him whipping his weapon around with Gwen now holding to it. She'll find herself sailing through the air like a ragdoll. Yeah, these guys are strong.
Batmans wolfman puts up a fight, taking the punishment the Bat dishes out and serving it back. Yelping as the electrified hits land time and time again. Spider-Mans web grenade slows him - hopefully it's enough for Batman to get him down.
Felicia manages to land behind the Werewolf, receiving a back kick from cruel, clawed feet. He heard her.
Hello Spider-Man, I'm Oracle. Let me introduce you to Batgirl…
"Batman, Spider-Man. I'm going to set off a ultrasonic. Be ready. I expect these guys to run." Those with sensitive enough hearing will detect it, the ultrasonic tone that comes from Batgirls suit. The wolfs HOWL in agony and try to depart. Will they be able to?
"Help /her/." Batman snaps in irritation at Spider-Man. He can tell Gwen's in trouble, and he's got his hands full to be able to offer an assist to the young spider. His teeth grit in determination as Felicia is on the recieving end of the kick, but it opens the wolf-creature up and Batman goes low, aiming to take out the plant leg of the beast before it can get it down.
As soon as the ultrasonics go off, the Bat is on the move, aiming to not give the creature a chance to get back up as he goes down with a knee into the middle of the creature's back and starts to lay in heavy electrically charge punches to sensitive points in the shoulders and sides. His strikes are percise and measured, well-practiced in the art of disabling someone without killing them. Whether or not he's using enough force to take down the wolf creature? That remains to be seen.
For the second time in under twenty seconds, Spider-Woman is sailing through the air, but at least she's not doing anything embarassing like screaming this time. She lands on her feet with a loud scrape. <Oh hey guys, what's up?> she inquires across the comms, which now include the Bats.
She might say more, but there's a wrewolf trying to escape. Well, we can't have that, now, can we? She fires a couple of weblines for the retreating canine's ankles, at the same time as she digs her own heels in (basically, just sticking herself to the pavement).
"I don't think so, where do you think you're going?" she yells at the werewolf. She's really just aiming to make him faceplant, but she's got her eye on his gun as well; can't have too much more of that getting fired off around here, afterall. This is a nice neighborhood.
<Hello, Oracle. I'm ALICE. Spider-Man is a little occupied right now.>
Spidey lands on the ground as the ultrasonic kicks in. His fillings vibrate slightly, but the werewolves are having a much rougher time of it.
While his doggy-boy is trying to run in the webbing that has been liberally applied, he sends to Gwen, <Spider-Woman. Make him a PINATA!"
And that is when he lands on the wolf's back, left arm clamped on the back of the wolf's neck, right arm held high. Then it comes down and a needle punctures the place where the carotid artery would be, and the vacuum-packed vial fills with the thing's blood.
Felicia doesn't even wince as the wolf's claws open up a gash across the midsection of her suit. "That isn't. What. I. Want. To. PLAY." And the Black Cat leaps toward the back of the wolf like a facehugger, only in like…reverse…trying to become a sadistic backpack, if she can sink claws into him before he shakes her off.
Apparently, she didn't get the memo that her new buddy might be high-tailing it shortly.
what she gets, apparently, is forcibly knocked down when the Bat gives the wolf a knee to the back. Cat tumbles backward, but now the blood flowing from the gashed leather is beginning to slicken her suit, and smears on the pavement as she tumbles and slides.
"God, I SUCK at this," she mutters, as she skitters to a stop.
The wolf Batman is laying into has had enough. He's turning tail and running. Well, limping and running, letting the masked crusaders punches land on his back. He doesn't get far before he collapses. Batman and the ultrasonic tone has done their job. "I don't know if you suck at it …." he growls at Cat … and thinks better of finishing that statement.
Spider-Man and Spider-Woman get shrugged off. Gwen gets the gun she so desired. He's off. Spider-Man is left holding a vial of blood as the wolf hightails it. Leaving streamers of webbing behind him. The thugs? They all follow - melting into the shadows.
"Everyone ok?" Batgirls modulated voice floats over the area as she crouches beside the wolf that Batman bought down and zipties his arms. "I'm sure that won't hold him. What are you going to do with him?" There's probably questions this group want to ask.
Spider-Man caps the vial and shoves it in his backpack. His got away, but left what he needed.
Then he spots Felicia and sees she is hurt. "CAT!" he blurts aloud, rushing over to her, checking her carefully for signs of infection, laceration, blleding. "Are you all right? How bad is it?"
Once the wolf is dropped, and Batgirl is asking the question of the moment, Batman is kneeling down next to the creature. Blood, fur, saliva are all taken. "SHIELD will pick him up." he decides to Batgirl, lifting his gaze to the redhead in his usual gruff tone. He looks around at the others, and the flatline of his lips turns into a scowl. "Stick to Queens." he rumbles, before rising up.
A line is fired to secure to a building before Batman is rising once again into the night. On patrol. Or tracking the one that got away to follow it towards it's den. Who knows for sure? But at least he sorta said thank you?
He left his Battranslator behind to explain. Better known as Batgirl.
He totally did /not/ say thank you.
Cat shakes her head as she is trying to scramble to her feet. "Nothing, I mean no… I'm fine he just, he /ruined/ my suit." Cat scowls, seemingly still oblivious to the blood running down her suit. "Does he have ANY idea how long these take to have made? This is ITALIAN leather…" She stumbles sideways for a moment, and looks around dizzily. "Ooh, I think maybe I'll sit down for a moment."
Spider-Woman gets the gun away from the werewolf, but loses her foot in the process and sprawls on her back. She's up again rapidly, but the wolf has gone around a corner and he's away; so she sighs audibly, and looks at the weapon in her hands. "Worth it," she mutters, before she casually bends the weapon in half, twists it a bit, pulls the magazine out just to be safe, and then folds the gun a few more times before tossing it over her shoulder. The magazine in her hand, well, she just hucks it up onto the rooftop, beside her backpack. She'll probably just throw it in the ocean later.
<Well, that went well,> she observes, over the comms. She turns to follow Spidey; a glance is given towards Batman as he disappears into the night, and she stares at Oracle for a moment; that one, she's met before, but… she can't… let on to that, can she?
"Hey." She comes to a stop, standing behind Spidey, and looking down at the Black Cat. "You okay?"
"I guess SHIELD will pick him up." Batgirl looks at the heroes that have assembled. "I'll say thank you for your help even if the Big Bat just growled at you." In the background, sirens are sounding. That's they're cue to get the hell out of there.
"Oracle will be in touch. If you have any questions, contact them. They've given you a way to do that." Indeed, Spider-Man will find a link to the Oracle App on a secure server on his phone. As will Gwen and Felicia.
Oracle's resourceful like that.
"In the meantime, I suggest we beat it. If you need medical attention, head to the Martha Wayne clinic and use the back entrance." Seems the Bat have an arrangement with the clinic.
Then the redhead is off as well, using her gun to tow her to the roof and away.
Spider-Man barely glances at them as both Bats head away. He's more focused on Felicia. helping her sit down. "Just lay back. You may be in shock. Let us look at it." He brings out the medikit from his backpack, opening it to reveal…a fairly comprehensive medical supply. He even has a medical staple gun. He looks up to Gwen. "How's your first aid?"
Spider-Woman looks up and snaps a mock-salute to Batgirl. "Sounds great," she replies, pleasantly. "I think Spidey and I are fine, but our friend might need some help." She looks back down to the Black Cat, and steps around Peter to kneel down beside her, on the other side.
"Pretty good, actually," she replies. "I had to get certified for the internship." She looks up, glancing in the direction of the sirens, then looks back down to Felicia. "Of course," she points out, "If we could get her up on the rooftops so we don't all get arrested while we're trying to do first aid, that'd be ideal. I'd rather not explain to my Dad that I'm Spider-Woman when she shows up to post bail."
Cat is fine. She knows she's fine. Just seething over her ruined suit. Until she lies back and the wound stretches with her movement. "Spidey, it's only money, I" Then, she finally winces. Adrenaline is wearing off. "Is that my" She moves to sit back up and winces again. "Damn it, that's ME." But her head snaps toward the sirens, and she looks back to the spiders. "Uh…yyyyes, we should get out of here. I have a love-hate relationship with law enforcement." And she is scrambling to get to her feet, looking for a good spot to sink a hook above them.
Spidey shakes his head. "Stop. Don't move. I'll carry you. If you move around a lot, it could make it worse."
Spidey gently lifts Felicia up in his arms. "Wrap your arms around my neck. Just hang on but stay very still."
And with that, he climbs up the wall with one hand and both feet, the other hand hold onto Felicia.