Felix keeps his distance (and invulnerability to ranged attacks) and throws a knife at the steel man because....well....that makes sense somehow?
Doc! Any ideas?"
The knife bounces off the chest of the Absorbing Man, leaving it with a unique humming noise echoing throughout the rest of the chamber.
A decidedly non-steel ringing noise. The Absorbing man does nothing but smile, as if inviting further attempts at attacking him.
As the others started the fight, Atsuko moved to get out of the way - to either find a good place to spring an ambush or to disrupt the rest of the villains' operations while they were focused on the big, flashy battle.
Tensing her legs, Masumi springs fourth to strike at Absorbiton Man. Judging by how he looked, Her paralyzing venom probably wouldn't do much good, but her claws could slice through steel!
The Doctor will tear a chunk of wood off of the door and telekinetically hold it against him. "This should keep him like wood."
Apocalypse eyes the wood that was being held against him, his featurless metal eyes blinking.
I see what you're trying to do here, He said. But you're going to need more than one measly piece of wood to get that to work on me.
Masumi's strike rings straight across A. Man's metallic skin, sending a vibrating feeling running through her entire arm.
The strike left little more than a set of marks.
Less physical blows, more mental stuff.
...
Whiiiiiiich was more her thing, wasn't it? Moving into Masumi's view - so as not to distract her by calling her attention away, or worse, revealing her own presence, Atsuko pointed to the matter-shifting man, then herself, then wiggled her fingers aggressively.
One of these days, they all needed to sit down and learn sign language as a group. Silent communication was valuable.
'She... She wants to tickle him? Or.. Him to her?' She wondered mentally, head cocked to the side in confusion. She honestly had no real idea what the girl was implying, but it probably wasn't anywhere near as silly as it looks. Masumi would just have to trust Atsuko's judgment.
"Guys, my skill set is a bit limited vs metal people. I can try something, but not sure it'll work..."
Felix not having a lot of options, just opts to throw another knife at the guy, keeping his distance.
"Might have to go with the other option...
The Absorbing man goes in for the closest, most obvious threat, Masumi, taking one step back and whipping his chain, aiming for across her face.
The knife once more bounces off the shoulder of A. Man, he smiles at Felix. Keep piling those up at my feet and you might shift me into a weaker metal. He said.
Atsuko sighed and slumped over slightly. Yeah, they definitely needed to learn sign language somehow. She darted closer to her group - best to stick together, after all - and as she let her concentration on her concealment lapse, she whirled around and focused the full force of her will on their target. It would take more than metal to stop an assault on his very self.
(...Which didn't preclude him from having something, of course. She knew enough to not get overconfident just because she'd done something.)
She braced herself against the attack, her alien anatomy easily absorbing the lackluster blow. But the force he displayed right now was immense, likely stronger then she was right now. If it was just them in this fight, it really could go either way. Except she had her new freinds for help!
...That really doesn't mean much though when you futily swipe a good foot away from your target though. Seriously, he didn't even move! That was a complete and utter miss.
Masumi wallows in self-pity.
Felix moves back as far as he can and does....something.
Its odd, to anyone he looks like he's just focusing really intently, and making weird grasping hand gestures at the Absorbing Man.
Masumi's blow whiffs right in front of A.Man's face, not even connecting as he takes a short step back.
A wave of bad luck seems to wash over A.Man. Not only does he seem to trip over himself as he takes a step forward, but for the briefest moment, his body flickers from metal to flesh.
Finally, his head shoots back, his eyes turning red and veiny as he grabs his forehead, dropping to one knee. His body begins to flicker faster and faster, from metal, to flesh, to the turf he's standing on, and the cloth he's wearing.
While he's disrupted, the Doc flexes his brain and lifts up Absorbo out of reach of any other materials.
The Absorbing Man is lifted into the air, flailing, but still holding onto his chain. Still metal, most of the time.
The crowd half-boos, half-shouts, Finish him! though most all of them were chucking beer-cans at the team.
Atsuko glanced at the crowd for a few moments. She didn't move or glow or generally draw attention to herself... but nevertheless, a creeping aura settled over the part of the crowd she could see. Her team wasn't here merely for their entertainment, and they needed to recognize that. (Also, uh, Gotham. Rule by fear seemed to be Batman's preferred method, and as much as possible, she wanted to respect the decision he'd made for the area he oversaw.)
Felix doesn't let up on whatever the heck he thinks he's doing. He doesn't feel any feedback from his ability at work, but since he started, they started winning, so he's not gonna stop.
The crowd bursts into what seems like a mass snit, some falling, some freezing, the rest running as far away as possible.
Killjoy. Two-Face said over the comm. Now I know why the Joker prefers a more... Captive audience.
A.Man drops the chain, as if he physically can't hold onto it. The chain lands in a coil on the ground, and the Absorbing man curses weakly, reaching out to it in vain.
Well well well. Two-Face said. It looks like we have a winner.
Masumi felt glad that...whatever Felix was doing seemed to finally bring the guy down in the end. When he was a passing out like that, she was completely hesitant to finish him off. It just felt wrong to capitalise on that, especially when there was a chance she'd hit flesh.
Her head now turned toward the intercom, she bares her needle thin teeth in some mockery of intimidation. This was going on for too long, and even she felt like it had to come to end end sooner rather then later.
"I don't like the idea of letting a criminal's desire to feed his ego constrain our behavior." she noted to the rest of the group. If they wanted to do anything besides Two-Face's script, well... not was probably a good time.
"What do we do then?" Felix says, drawing out his knife.
He'd killed before. Evil cults, villains, sometimes perhaps an innocent. It was something he never enjoyed doing, and it would another face to the wall of dark memories he saw every time he slept.
Your prize,Two-Face started with a notable pause in the middle, as if he was otherwise occupied with something else. Is behind the other door He finished, a light shining on the unused door. Good luck, folks. He said.
Masumi is obviously dubious, and looks to the others for input.
As the light shone on the doors, Atsuko gestured, and tendrils erupted out of the darkness close to the door and attempted to physically hold them shut. Together, they could provide about three tons of force - or at least lift that much - and hopefully they'd be enough to keep the door in place for a little bit. When a threat came your way, you dealt with it... although she was curious about what Two-Face was doing, and they probably wanted to go find him sooner instead of later.
You note a smug sense of superiority in Two-Face's voice, and that it was his more gravelly-toned, evil-persona speaking, rather than Harvey himself.
Finally, you notice that this change in voice only occurred after the pause, and one would suspect that he flipped a coin to decide whether or not you were to go through that door.
The doors fly open with Atsuko's manipulation. A massive grey figure is stirred, chained to the ground. It's back faces you, and it turns. Solomon Grundy. It growled, a deep voice not displaying too much intellect. Born on a Monday. It growled. It doesn't make any sudden movements just yet, just to stand up and face the party. Indeed, as Two-Face had said, there was a door behind him.
"Hey Grundy, mind if we go through that door behind you?"
Felix's powers naturally shift to dodge parry as he walks closer to the door. His hands are free but his knives are in reaching in his clothes.
"Pretty please?"
Atsuko quietly avoided jumping into the situation to make it more complicated - especially because she wasn't very familiar with the figure and question and wasn't sure what to do. That, and she was a little worried about the way the doors had been strong enough to break straight through her tendrils - that wasn't exactly a small amount of force, and rather than continuing to do something futile, she let them vanish.
The monstrous hero stood by closely, curious to see if the strange villain would actually comply with Felix's request. Her claws were splayed outward as a precaution, readying to strike out if more combat seemed likely.
"Solomon!" the doctor says cheerfully. "It's been so long. You are unchanged, as usual I see. We'll be going now."
It's quick and cheerful and playing on the big guy's confusion.
Grundy looks at the team, focusing for a long time on Masumi before he realizes that he was being talked to.
He looks to the Doctor, tilting his head. Long... Time? He asked, pausing longer still, moving closer to the team. Long time... Long time! He smiled, showing his decayed teeth.
He reached out and gives Doc Apoc a prolonged, strong hug, lifting him off his feet and dropping him. Hel,,, lo Lu-thor. He said.
The Doctor will gesture for the others to go past as he distracts the zombie. "I've been looking for you. Batman has been causing problems and I need your strength to break him. You remember all the things that he has done to you, right? It is time to get revenge! Are you with me?"
It seems that while you can take the evil out of the villain, you can't stop the power of the monologue!
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Masumi, confused by this turn events, numbly complies with the Doctor's suggestion and moves on through the doorwary. 'Did that really just happen?
Doctor Apocalypse had better not have been serious about that... but Atsuko took the chance to quietly move forward, aiming to figure out the layout and get as close to Two-Face as they could.
Grundy kill Bat! Grundy said, stomping his foot down and causing plaster to sprinkle down from the ceiling. Lu-thor help Grundy? He asked as the team made it safely to the door.
Opening the door to the wide-storage room, you notice three things.
One, Two-Face with a rather large machine-gun pointed at the machine, hidden behind cover.
Two, four Cape-Killers in what appeared to be suits of powered armor.
And three, that there was another door leading to this room, approximately the same distance Grundy's door was to the Absorbing Man's.
Are you here to negotiate your surrender? Two face asked in a raspy voice.
I love it when he goes full Doctor Evil. The best.
Just here to claim our prize, if that's all right." Felix says, casually walking a bit closer.
"I mean we played the game and all. What's that coin of yours say again?"
Ravager tries her best to remain cool under pressure, but she's struggling something fierce under the mob man's gaze. The implications behind him brought fourth far too many crystal clear bad memories of her career in Japan.
'Please don't hurt us please don't hurt us please don't hurt us...' Was the montra she thought to herself, while preparing to leap in the way of any oncoming fire from that gun.
Darkstorm gets ready, looking at the situation. We are going to need to get out of here fast. If this doesn't go well, I am making us and Grundy invisible.
Two-Face's Harvey-half grinned. I'll tell you after you're dead. He said, winking his one eye with a lid, lifting his rifle and aiming it at the group.
The the ceiling burst, a dark shape stretching out and landing between the two groups.
Batman.
It's over, Harvey, The Batman said with his commanding voice.
Then, making a much more subdued entrance, the Phantom walks in from behind, blood on his knuckles. Afternoon. He hummed.
Two-Face paused for a long time. Oh, well... Damn. He started. I was hoping I wasn't going to have to break out the reserves. He tapped a button on his wrist and footsteps began to sound. Over a dozen various thugs walked in through all the doors.
There, now it's fair. He said.
Darkstorm will immediately call on his bio-energy to cloak his team mates. Stay within thirty feet of me, he says just loud enough so they hear.
Ravager is already leaping over the gang, including Batman and the Phantom, in order to tackle Two-Face head on. She registered Darkstorm's helpful suggestion, but for some stupid reason decided now was a good time to act on impulse. Her claws ooze with venom, as she lashes out!
'I regret doing this already!'
As the thugs came in, Atsuko focused her will on the minions and simply battered them with it, avoiding finesse in favor of trying to knock them out quickly and cleanly. Fortunately, it tended to take sustained blasts to actually kill anyone - her goal here wasn't murder, only incapacitating them so the shadowy figure over there who had vastly more experience than her and a reputation for planning for every possible contingency could... uh... do what he wanted with them, really. Drop them off in front of a police station, maybe?
He sighs internally. Having focused Grundy on the Batman, he then shows up to interfere with the plan. Still, he had to work with what he had.
"Damnit! Two-face has ruined my plan. Grundy, you must take him out first! He is your top priority."
Felix becomes immune to attacks targeting parry, and dives into the fray, slashing bashing, and utilizing all the punishment drilled into him last summer by his great aunt. She had one hell of a right hook.