Summary:Things are afoot in Staten Island and SHIELD chase a bungled arms deal Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's only a few days after the New Year and Staten Island is doing what Staten Island does. Which is to say, it is being the site of some of the worst 'scum and villainy' in New York because… well if it's awful and it's happening in this city it's PROBABLY happening in Staten Island.
SHIELD is in on this one. It's a weapon's smuggling case and they're not just any weapons. Police and SHIELD agents made an attempt at the exchange site down by the river but the confrontation has quickly gotten out of hand and ranged into the city. Fortunately it's night, which means that the streets in this part of the Island are largely empty. Unfortunately there are two dozen agents and something like thirty smugglers exchanging high energy weapons fire in the shadow of Staten Island's gothic towers.
SHIELD has just called in the big guns. And this cannot have gone unnoticed by Gotham's most territorial vigilante clan.
Luckily (?), one of said vigilante clan keeps track of these things. At least to the extent that she's able to without compromising one side or the other, or making SHIELD agents nervous. Helena knew something was planned tonight and passed the word along, then made sure she was in town - in costume - just in case.
"You know guys, this is the sort of thing that makes faeries feel like they can judge us and send ancient spirits to eat our…everythings," she says on the Bat comms as she makes her way along the rooftops toward the confrontation. It's a mix of methods with her, as it's always been. Free-running turns to a swing off a lightpole like something out of a high bar routine, then the next time there's a gap she can't cross, it's a looping swing and a run along the side of a building via grappling gun.
"Hey, Batgirl, do we have some sort of signal to let SHIELD know not to shoot us?" she asks as she reaches the edge of the nearest roof, getting a glimpse of the battle at hand.
"Fuck a bunch of faeries," Red Hood says into his comm. He acknowledges the problem at hand requires a group solution, but that doesn't mean he'll play nice or kiss anyone's butt.
"Anybody shoots me, I shoot back," he says. He's parked in an alley behind the wheel of a souped-up muscle car, the engine growling a bit low, the dripping murdered bat symbol he's taken as his own splattered across the hood.
"Any specs on the bad guys, so I can pick them out from the trigger-happy feds?"
"I'd rather not, thanks." Batgirl answers Red Hood "I've yet to find one that takes my fancy. And I'm fairly sure it's anything we'd do that makes Eurayle and her people feel like they can do what they're doing, Blackbird."
It's not just Faeries they're dealing with, it's a range of things and Batgirl is a little stumped on what it is they're doing.
I'm contacting SHIELD now, Blackbird. Oracles androgynous voices answers the youngest Bat. On any SHIELD communications, the VI breaks in This Oracle, you have Bats on the ground, please be careful where you are aiming. Opening a channel if you wish to coordinate communications.
Who knows who will get this, but it's something that Batgirl um Oracle set up a while ago.
The redhead ghosts through the shadows on the roof above one group, crouching on the edge and setting her timing, dropping a flashbang right into a group of thugs shooting at SHIELD agents.
Numbers unkown, Red Hood, however the weapons are energy based, quite sophisticated. Higher than the sort this type group usually has. Russian made, I believe.
Gunfire in Staten Island streets. Inefficient and messy. Too much risk of collateral damage. Agent Melinda May, finally cleared for field duty, is tapped to help on this only after things get ugly. If they'd asked her to be here from the get-go, it wouldn't have made it to ugly. She made her opinions very clear, and then demanded that she be dropped somewhere outside of the main 'battlefield'.
Since then, she's been working her way in to the epicenter of the mess, taking down the 'bad guys' efficiently and most of all quietly. After all, when people are shooting guns everywhere, throat-punching someone ranks REALLY low on the noise scale.
Dressed in deep blue and black (and her beloved jacket once again with its weaponry all back in their proper places), likely the only things to distinguish her from any side is the lack of a mask like one of the vigilante sorts and the presence of a black on black patch on the shoulder of her jacket of a stylized eagle. It's not glaringly obvious.
The first hint anyone has that anything is wrong is a sense of tingling electricity. The hairs standing up on the back of the neck. Then there's a bright flash and something rushing toward people. Something that looks like an expanding sphere of water.
It isn't water though. It's some kind of energy and as it passes over things, they change. Buildings are thrown back to the 12th century. The sky scrapers become soaring fantasy towers built out of marble and stone rather than steel and concrete. The moon still shines bright in the sky but it seems brighter, and closer.
Weapons that people are holding become no more advanced than a sword or a spear. The smugglers become brigands. Armed to the teeth to be sure. Several of them are armored like knights but brigands all the same. And a sort of mental fog descends that makes it near impossible to remember identities. Names, yes, but the sense of who people ARE is twisted to adapt to this… whatever it is.
Behind the Brigands a woman appears. Well, not a woman. A woman from the waist up but a great serpent from the waist down, with writhing snakes for hair.
"To me, my warriors!" The brigands jerk and seem to react to that call, falling back and closing up around the the gorgon.
"Now… who are these rude guests?" She says, gesturing to the former police and SHIELD agents who have become medieval soldiers themselves and the… heroes.
"Well, that's a dating option I'll admit I haven't looked into," Helena quips in response to Jason's faerie suggestion. "But I hear it tends to come with complications. I bet Nightwing's got some experience, though." Who hasn't Dick dated? And even if he was a monk, as the oldest of the bat-kids he'd be subject to teasing regardless.
There's a grin behind her mask, the golden contacts in the shadow of her hood glinting in the darkness as she toggles the HUD to infrared…just in time for it to be rendered useless. And that, boys and girls, is why your costume should have layers of protection. Just in case you get reality-shifted to fantasy-land. At least - barring the technological tricks - the black armor, cape, hood, and lower face mask fit right in.
Spotted by the leader of the brigands, she hops down from the edge of the roof by sliding down the gutter, drawing her staff from it's place against her back as she lands in a light crouch. "Better question: Who are you?"
From her perch on the roof, Batgirl looks on, the sleek black suit and cape morphing as the field rolls over. She's back to the sherwood forest green trousers and jerkin again, a scarf obscuring her face and a hat perched jauntily on top of her bright red hair.
In her hand? A bow. Made of wood.
"Verily, where is it that we are now?" No one will hear that through the communicators, as the redhead drops to the ground, wincing a bit as her back jars.
"And who be ye, young one to be asking such impertinent questions."
Yes, that's right. Batgirl, along with all the others has forgotten who she is.
Where the muscle car had been, a muscle horse emerges, clad in black and red armor like it's rider, another dark knight on the land. No cloak, though, just a red helm gleaming and a pair of notched short swords on either side of his hips. No shield.
He rides to the edge and watches, a looming presence, full of hatred and anger and not sure to whom it should be directed. He only knows that he will spill blood and spill it in plenty.
Especially faerie blood. For some reason, he feels like they're responsible for whatever curse has befallen him.
Matters had indeed seemed dire, for they had escalated as more and more assets were drawn into the situation. Word had gotten out and when things reach a certain point the consideration of other assets becomes a priority. Especially when some are at times available with just the right word and a phone call to the Avengers' mansion.
As quick as the lightning and with the crackle of thunder, the Asgardian prince sliced across the skyline, silvery hammer held in hand and leading him forth. Another crackle is heard even as that energy washed over across the surroundings and if one were looking upwards they might well see the blur of a man falling to the ground…
Falling through that wave of reality-altering energy.
Landing with a KRAK-OW of impact as the hammer falls into the ground sending out an abrupt shockwave, all the while as the Thunderer stands to gain his feet, electrical energy sizzling over the surface of Mjolnir… the power takes its effect on him. Shifting his garb from its modern casual manner to the great golden suit of armor that he now wears.
And then his voice lifts with a hearty rumbling roar, "Ho there, villain!" The hammer comes up pointing in the direction of the snake creature and the beings around her that so menace these… other individuals which are somehow his comrades? Friends? "Stand down lest you feel the might of Thor."
He remembers himself apparently, but then the hammer lowers marginally as he tilts his helmeted head to the side, brow knitting with a hint of confusion as he looks now around himself, feeling that glitch feeling when something doesn't seem right.
May closes her eyes at the wash of whatever that was, thinking it was the leading edge of a flashbang. When she opens her eyes, the dark on black attire is completely gone. In its place is cascades of elaborate silks in red and pink and gold overlayed with gold and red laquered armor. In her hands are a Jian sword and Guan Dao blade that nearly resembles a polearm.
Looking around quickly, she hears the voice calling out and the brigands heeding the summons. That must be the leader of the brigand army, and that is who she needs to destroy. Thus, she follows, her silk and leather footwear nearly completely silent.
It's possible that the snake headed creature intended this result the entire time or that Thor's rather energetic arrival triggered it but when he does arrive, rather than answering Helena's question the serpentine creature just points and shouts. "ATTACK!"
And that's what happens. The brigands, former smugglers, charge. Spears and swords leveled. The former police are still fairly disorganized and are set upon very quickly. Which means that any difference in the fight is up to the… more flamboyant looking figures.
Like the samurai in the mirror-shine armor who steps out from behind a building and slices one of the brigand's shields in half.
Everyone's got a lot to do suddenly. Helena's got three. Babs has three. Jason has two but these are fully armored. Thor draws five with pikes. They clearly want to keep their distance. And May gets three of her own.
Memories and identities are hazy, but if there's one thing Helena knows about herself, it's that this is where she belongs: taking out those who threaten her lands. Hrm. Her lands. That part still seems to ring true. As does the general idea of 'they'd better not figure out who I am.'
Any question of who she is or who she's working with, though, is soon moot. There's a whole crowd of villains here and no time to waste. She waits for them to close in on her, then plants the butt of her staff in the cobblestones, using it as a pivot point to spin a kick at one, then flings smoke pellets at the feet of the others to distract them from the butt of the staff cracking out at their jaws.
The silver clad Samurai draws the redheads attention, eyebrows rising as he cleaves the shield in half. "I know thee, sir… " she says, skipping back as she's upon with swords! The Knight on the horse gets a questioning look but he's attacked as well, the female archer assuming that the enemy of her enemy is likely a friend. "Who be thee, Sir?" She asks. A dangerous question to ask a Bat under these circumstances. Barbara knows she's Barbara Gordon - and would likely respond with that if weren't for the training to keep her identity hidden.
When one brigand lunges, Batgirl, lunges to the right, then left avoiding the next swipe when it comes. The bow is turned into a staff of sorts, the escrima and martial arts training kicking in as well. "Back to back, young one…" she calls to Helena. "… we can defend more easily."
Does the Samurai recognise the sequences he's been teaching the red-head over the past several weeks? Will he remember if they escape this nightmare?
Jason Todd dismounts at the approach of his armored enemies, rolling and coming up with a sword in each hand. Rather than choosing to take them on one at a time, he allows them to double team him, fending off one with each arm. He does it because it is thrilling and because it is bold and because he wants to show them and anyone else who might be watching that he is a dangerous bastard with a thirst for blood.
No fighting with staffs for him as he lashes out with the blade, aiming for vital parts, junctures in the armor. Ruthless, aggressive, risky in his strategy, he throws a few kicks to keep them at the necessary distance.
A berserker's wild smile lights the Asgardian's features as he's beset. His voice lifts again as he calls out to his 'comrades'. "To battle, and death!" Though whose he does not state more clearly. The five pikemen spread out and around him, menacing him with their weapons in a suitably wary manner, the wicked points lashing out.
One rings against the metal of his armor as it makes the stab, point fouled by the gleaming golden metal. Another thrusts for the man's abdomen only for the haft to be caught as the golden warrior laughs and pulls him in for a shoulder check that slams the man to the ground where abruptly he finds the hammer is dropped down atop him and left there to pin him.
It's then that Thor dives into the melee bare-handed and mad with what can only seem like happiness.
Rushing in from the side, May gets within eyeshot of the She' nu, the snake woman, but is surrounded by brigands in their coarse attire. Wielding both blades with the ease and skill of long experience, she calls out to them in archaic Chinese before laying into them, using both blades to alternately block and attack, and occasionally kicking out at one brigand or another in a swirl of embroidered silks.
Hopefully one advantage to that excess of decorative fabrics: it should make her actual silhouette difficult to discern and thus harder to hit.
May's silks actually do confuse her profile as is powerfully demonstrated when someone tries to spear her but only gets one of her scarfs. The heroes do definitely manage to thin out the brigands ranks, and all of the remaining ones rush in. The snake woman folds her arms and seems to smirk as she watches.
Helena manges to put two of her three down and then evade notice. That doesn't stop another pair from TRYING to chase her but they lose sight of her and only pick her up again when she's near Batgirl. Then they charge.
Batgirl gets a nod from the Samurai but that's all there's time for. She's holding her own but she's charged again by fresh brigands. One of them gets almost literally cut in half by the silver armored warrior but others get through to surround Helena and Babs. They're going to need all their tricks to get out of that.
Jason very efficiently kills the two who come at him, slipping those short swords between the armor plates to find the vitals. He hears a horse whinney just as he finishes though and a lance bearing knight is coming down at him at full tilt.
Thor and May find themselves near eachother with the balance of the brigands. They're surrounded though it really doesn't feel like it. Thor can bat them away and seems to be enjoying it and may is just impossible to hit. Still, it is something like ten on two. They also need to make quick work of this because THAT SNAKE WOMAN IS GETTING AWAY!
Helena's style is…well, no style. Just when it looks like there could be something to pin down, she's moved on to another trick from another tutor. Perhaps she's just the ghost of heroes past.
Back to back with Batgirl, she keeps the brigands at bay with the length of her staff until there are too many too close for it to be of use. At that point, with a twist of her wrists, it comes apart into two smaller sticks, given a twirl as her mask hides her the grin that flashes in anticipation of the fight.
An elbow to one brigand's jaw, as a stick comes crashing onto the wrist of another, swaying to one side to dodge a punch, and she catches sight of the fleeing snake woman. She whistles sharply, calling out. "Red Knight! We've got a runner!"
A) He's the one with a horse. B) Snake-people may or may not be people, so are a safe(r) target for murderous rage.
Jason Todd does what might not be particularly sportsmanlike in the period, but, well, he's not sportsmanlike. Not in the least. Jason ducks low, the spear going over his head and rises in a pivot, landing a heavy-booted and thunderous kick to the jaw.
Of the horse.
Certain enough that the knight in question will crash down with his mount, the armored man breaks into a run. For whatever reasons, he trusts the strange girl enough that he goes into pursuit as he whistles his own horse forward, hopping onto its back and hanging low, swords drawn as he heads after the Snake Woman.
"My thanks, Ronin." Babs calls out to the Samurai. Some things she remembers from before - probably things she should forget. It might get her swatted with a blade. With Helena at her back, the redhead reaches into pouch at her hip.
"Do you know the problem with dirt and dust, young one?" She asks as she hops the low sweep of a blade, hissing as her ankle is caught by the sweep - that's going to bleed. "It gets in your eyes…" A handful of dirt is thrown at two of her assailants faces, filling their eyes with grit. Leaving one who can still attack for the moment. He gets a bow used as a staff to the temple "Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not polite to hit women?" she says, sweeping the bow low to take the ankles of one of the others and up … between the legs … of the third.
Ouch.
Fighting around the poor pinned brigand, Thor brawls with the best of them. A spear stabs into his shoulder, sparks burning off the armor as the thrust scrapes across the metal plate. Another has it taken away from its wielder and broken over the knee of the Prince of Asgard even as he settles into place opposite May and fighting well with her at his back.
A rough chortle is heard as the Thunderer declares, "Come now, is this truly your wish?" One man is drawn close then lifted up into the air before he is sent hurtling back into the crowd. "To spend yourselves fighting against your betters all while your mistress gets away?"
Thor shakes his head after he downs another brigand, this time with a head butt that has him looking down at the fallen warrior, "Unwise. Valhalla awaits not the foolish. But the valorous."
May can very much tell she's being herded, but at least now she has a great Western lug of a warrior at her back who also seems to be an enemy of the brigands. She keeps a sliver of attention on him in case he decides to turn on her, but most of her attention is on getting through the brigands to the snake woman. Who is now fleeing.
Shouting toward Barbara again in her archaic Chinese, she demands that the Mongolian woman (who else would carry a bow into battle?) fire on the fleeing enemy leader. FIRE!
It's almost like watching a movie and the heroes might think that if any of them could remember what a movie was at the moment. The way they make quick work of the bandits is nothing short of impressive, from Batgirl and Blackbird putting on a staff and bow clinic to Thor and May swirling around a maelstrom of fighting making all their opponents look alternately weak and clumsy.
As for the Red Knight, with no one to face him after that kicking a gift horse in the mouth, he runs down the fleeing snake woman and his blow slices up her back. As she falls he might catch a slight smirk. Then she hits the ground and her form begins to dissipate into smoke.
"Well played, Knight. We will meet again, and I shall remember this."
As quickly as it had come the energy that had passed over them passes in the other direction, restoring memories, clothing and equipment. All the smugglers are down and the police, the ones that aren't injured, look VERY confused.
If anyone looks, a stream of smoke from where the gorgon went down rises into the air and trails away… going AGAINST the wind.
Memory slams back, like the tumblers of a lock clicking open with the key. Helena remembers learning that feeling from her mother, distinctly, and then glances over her shoulder at Batgirl, brows furrowing in the shadow of her hood. Now…is maybe not the time to pick that apart though.
"Hey, sound off," she calls over the comms, just a touch of uncertainty in her voice. "Blackbird still here." She is so putting a blood test through the cave equipment before bed tonight.
Jason Todd stands over the disippating snake woman for a moment, "Well, that's great, since I have no idea who the fuck you are," he snarls.
His senses return, along with his guns and a very different set of armor. He flexes a gauntleted hand.
"Red Hood, accounted for. Anybody has any idea what the hell that was, share. I'll make sure to avoid that shit in the future."
As the field recedes, Babs costume changes back to the sleek black one she's known for. Wincing under her hood, the redhead looks around. "Batgirl, accounted for. Who else is out there?" She says, pushing down the pain standing straight.
"Silver Samurai? Red Hood? Agent May?" Oh yes, she'd seen the woman before the field went up.
"That's what we've been tracking for several weeks. They're moving faster since we started disrupting them …"
This. Is not.
May is taking down one last brigand before she turns to chase after the snake woman and… things suddenly return to how they're supposed to be and May stops dead in complete confusion. For about three seconds. And then she's looking around and catching sight of the red-haired masked woman. Huh. Curiouser and curiouser. Then she's reaching a hand to her comms and calling in to Overwatch. "Ops. May. Status." She's almost positive she won't be the only one call in in confusion.
"Samurai here. Obviously." The no longer silver armored man with the swords says. Interesting. That must mean he arrived here with swords in the real world. Or… this version of it.
"All hostiles seem to be down agent May. We detected an energy pulse. We're still analyzing. Secure the situation. We've got more agents on the way."
The Samurai melts back into the shadows. Sirens wail in the distance. The police will be here too.
"I'm betting magic, but I'm sure as hell running a blood test later," Helena grimaces to Jason's question. "Feel free to stop by if you want to donate to the cause." Only then does she step away to take her back from Barbara's, winking at the other woman. "You too, of course. Sounds like it's time for bats without badges to be moving along."
She doesn't wait after that, firing a grappling gun at the nearest rooftop and riding the recoil up before she takes off across the rooftops, laughing to herself. "Bats without badges. Like doctors without borders for crime."