Two-Face steps back, the tips of the Ravager's claws still making it through, two long, thin red marks run across his chest, he gasps, grasping at his wounds, not dropping his weapon, but breathing heavily, raggedly, his eyes widening.
Atsuko's alien will sends a ripple through the crowd, giving Batman and the Phantom several openings to make some very painful looking blows to the common criminals.
The Cape-Killers appear affected, too, recoiling and, though most cannot see past their armored mask, it is apparent that they're suffering from one serious migraine.
Felix's blade knocks ineffectually off the armor of one of the cape-killers.
Two-Face Fires past Masumi, straight the Lucky Man, Felix.
Two of the Cape-Killers dash in to defend their employer, attacking the monstrous thing that is attacking him, throwing some rocket-powered swings at the being.
The other two charger forth towards the cloak in hopes that they are affected by it, too.
Meanwhile, The Doctor was successful at manipulating Grundy.
Lex send Grundy to Two-Face. He said. And bad Bat Man is here... But you're boss.
He barrels in, charging, making a beeline to Two-Face and swatting at one of the Cape-Killers assailing Masumi in the process.
It knocks the Cape-Killer a dozen feet away, but he is still left standing.
Masumi cries out as the Cape Killer manages to land a solid punch which draws thick ichor from her shouler. However, it quickly starts to congeal against her wound, and the criminal get's the impression he's momentarily impaired her in some small way.
Taking none of the powerful mook beside her, she sacrifices some of the power behind her stance and keep up defensively.
Oh, lovely - a giant mess of things. For the moment, Atsuko simply sent her will rippling through the crowd in random directions. Going from one end to the other would have been far too simple - her power was rather difficult to actually detect, and as much as possible, she wanted to keep other people from being able to figure out its limits. Even among superpowered individuals, knowledge was often the most powerful tool of all.
"I need some new toys..."Felix mutters as he looks at his usually non-effective throwing blades. He begins to backflip out of the melee and, when clear, begins tossing his knives with pinpoint accuracy, attempting to take out cape-killers.
The Cape-Killer struck by the Ravager lets out a pained groan audible even through his mask as her claws rip through the armor, the soldier turning motionless for a good, long while. With the combined strength of Atsuko's first wave of alien will and the force from the blow, the man falls limp.
The crowd is taken down another step by a mental wave, the two other vigilantes mowing through them with ease now, Batman flipping a man into the ground, face-first, and the Phantom shattering a few ribs with a well-placed kick.
The second knife bounces off, but with each repeated blow, the armor seems to grow just a little weaker, leaving the possibility for the next strike.
Darkstorm drops the invisibility and fires at the nearest cape-killer.
It looked like a pretty good part of the crowd had been taken care of, and Atsuko nodded slightly before switching from pure willpower to something a little... creepier. Gotham was famous - or perhaps infamous - for the rule of fear that tended to be imposed on its members. That didn't stop a heck of a lot of crime from actually happening, but it was something of a known quantity... and if you couldn't see what was happening to you, it was probably harder to handle it.
"Screw this," Felix says as he glances at all the combatants...
Let's see....if I hit him here, and trip that....should work...
Felix gets to work, trying to trip up the cape killers and set up an advantageous situation for his comrades.
The bolt strikes the cape-killer straight in the chest and deals some fairly serious damage to his armor.
Only one of the Cape-Killers failed to steel themselves against the Alien Will of Atsuko, the one having been struck just then by Darkstorm.
Masumi turns back towards to the partially paralyzed Two-face, and readies her self to go to town on him. She felt kinda bad about doing this when he's mostly helpless, but she knew the man would try to blow her head off if he could. Her claws rear back, and she starts to savage the man!
Huh. Well, that hadn't been as nice as hoped. Oh well.
...She was also a bit impressed by Masumi's bravery. Or maybe it was recklessness? She knew she wasn't brave enough to go after one of Batman's enemies when the man himself was present - not without a darn good reason to, anyway. She did continue to try and incapacitate the Cape-Killers, though - the less they could move around, the better.
The Doctor keeps ready to redirect Gundy if he starts to go off the rails.
Felix will stay on standby, ready to help out with one of his teammates manuveurs.
"Knives aint doing much, I'll do my best to back one of you up!" he calls out.
Masumi ravages Two-Face to the point where Batman leaps into action, stepping between the two.
Stop! The Caped Crusader demanded, staring down the Ravager, not flinching an inch.
Two of the Cape-Killers Spasm out of control and fall to the ground,
Grundy, his motion to mangle Two-Face rendered moot, takes a swing at the nearest Cape-Killer.
Cracking his armor with just one blow and knocking him out.
For the final Cape-Killer, the Black Phantom joins Felix, throwing in blows assisted by the man as the Phantom batters his steel-tipped boots and knuckles against the armored man.
And then they overwhelm him with enough strikes to knock him down.
The fight was over, everything was quiet, sae for a bit of pained moaning. Batman was still standing off with Masumi, the Black Phantom was watching silently.
Masumi is suitably cowed by the man, tossing up her claws in what she hoped looked more like a form of surrender then a rear to attack. Her attempt at vocalization that sounded more like harsh snarling then her apologizing profusely probably didn't help.
'Oh god Oh god please tell me I didn't just kill someone! In front of Batman no less, s%+# s$!% s%+*- I didn't mean it I swear!' She thought, her attempt at pleading becoming even more frantic.
Yeaaaaaah, I'm not gonna step into that. Atsuko ceased focusing on her powers and simply moved to keep watch over the rest of the chamber. Let the others butt in on the Caped Crusader if they really wanted to - she was new enough to understand her own inexperience and know when to shut her mouth.
Batman reacts very quickly to Masumi, reaching for his utility belt and taking a step back, only then did the Phantom step in.
She's a young girl, Batman. He said, his voice low, audibly tired. Nice girl. She didn't mean to hurt him, and she doesn't mean to hurt you. He continued, and Batman backed off, nodding to the Ravager.
I need you all out of Gotham. As soon as possible. He said firmly.
The Phantom nodded. I need to interrogate Harvey. He said.
And why is that? Batman asked.
I'll tell you after I'm done. The Phantom said. It concerns the League, the Avengers, and every other cape out there.
Then that is something I can attend to.
You have no idea what you're asking for. The Phantom said.
I know that there is something to ask about. That's all I need.
The Phantom was quiet for a long time. You can stay then. He said. But we're not leaving until we get what we want. If you want us to leave, well... I'm sure you could take any one of us, but all of us... We're pretty stubborn, Bat.
The Batman met that with his own silence. Provided he ever wakes up, He started, glaring over to Masumi. You can start your interrogation.
Looks like a job for a doctor, hmm? The Phantom said, turning to look at one of his teammates, along with his zombified friend.
Felix elbows the Doctor Apocolypse and whispers "I think he means you."
"I can, uh, probably get some tools if you need anything." Atsuko offered as Felix nudged the Doctor. Not that she wanted to reveal either useful capability in front of the Batman - teleportation and highly configurable magic tomes were both the kind of thing you kept mysterious if you could - but she wasn't so prideful that she'd let her desire to be hidden compromise their mission.
"Oh, no tools will be necessary. I never went in for that." He will begin by patting down Harvey for his coin. "In fact, I think we can perhaps get Dent to cooperate willingly. What do you say? Heads you take the easy way. Tails, we do it the hard way?"
With that, he'll flip the coin. Very precisely. He didn't use his telekinesis, for that gave off a silver glow. But when he learned all of the skills of the city of Metropolis, there were a few stage magicians in town.
"See, heads. Fate wants you to play nice."
"Let's see what we can do."
He'll begin binding the wounds and readying him to wake up.
Being masterfully patched together by the good Doctor, Two-Face sputters awake, coughing and cursing, looking up to his present company and cursing. Dammit. He groaned.
Hello Harvey. The Phantom said in a calm tone of voice. We're going to have some words. He continued, then looking to his team.
"Love the food here, but the service could use some work." Felix says, popping open an unbroken fortune cookie he had been saving.
"Where'd you get the mooks?" he asks, between the crunch of his chew.
"I mean, the henchmen union gonna be serving you papers for this."
Atsuko kept quiet - let the others have the words. She'd come along mostly as muscle, and she was still quite wary of giving away more than she really had to. Even if she was pretty sure Batman was trustworthy, Two-Face probably wouldn't forget whatever he learned here, and as usual, she was concerned about her appearance and what others thought of her. (Arguably too much so, really - when she was too worried, paralysis by indecision was a very real problem for her.)
More importantly, they were here to figure out more about the weapons they'd learned about... and the sooner they did, the better.
Ravager rubbed her hands together nervously, standing toward the back of the room. She found herself fascinated by the door's expertise, and did welcome the chance to memorize more of his techniques. But mostly she felt pretty awful with the knowledge that she did that. How far would she have gone if Batman hadn't stepped in? She wanted to think she wouldn't accidentally go to far, but sometimes it felt all too natural to aim for somewhere more... vital.
When Harvey woke up, she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut completely, her closed lips making her face seem entirely featureless.
You could attempt sign language, Masumi :)
At least one of you might have also gotten a major hint a little bit earlier.
Why the hell should I tell you? Two-Face said. They're Cape-Killers, they work to kill capes, and you're who I pointed them at. That's all I'm telling.
That's not being cooperative. The Phantom hummed. You or me, Batman? He asked.
You've done enough. Batman said, stepping up, pressing his forearm against the prone Two-Face's neck. Start talking.
Two-Face gurgled in response, remaining tight-lipped. Not even uttering a retort in response.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Masumi rubbed her hands together nervously, and was seriously wishing someone else would try speaking to this man. He clearly was just going to try ignoring Felix and The Batman, which would probably result in some really brutal punches to the man's jawline. Maybe... maybe she could try something? It might at least encourage others to step up to he plate. Yeah. Yeah! This was a good idea.
She brought her claws together to begin signing words and...
"Tell us please?"
Brilliant. That'll convince him.
Atsuko winced slightly as Masumi... well... failed to properly communicate. For just a moment, Atsuko had considered some kind of mental domination tactic, but she'd ultimately decided that it wouldn't be the best course of action. Among other things, she didn't want to make it seem like the Batman needed someone's help to get answers from one of his own foes - he, uh, probably wouldn't take kindly to that sort of interference.
(And yes, she was incredibly reluctant to go against one of the most infamous heroes in the world... there were some things you just didn't do if you were a rookie.)
"Oh, no tools will be necessary. I never went in for that." He will begin by patting down Harvey for his coin. "In fact, I think we can perhaps get Dent to cooperate willingly. What do you say? Heads you take the easy way. Tails, we do it the hard way?"
With that, he'll flip the coin. Very precisely. He didn't use his telekinesis, for that gave off a silver glow. But when he learned all of the skills of the city of Metropolis, there were a few stage magicians in town.
[dice=Sleight of hand]1d20+11
"See, heads. Fate wants you to play nice."
[dice=persuasion]1d20+20
Darkstorm hangs by Masumi as if trying to support his teammate.
The Phantom steps aside of Masumi. She asked you to tell us what you know. He said. Please.
Two-Face's reaction was merely to raise in one intact brow incredulously.
Then, when the Doctor had his say, Two-Face stared down at the coin, then back up at the former villain. It's a new organization. He began. I don't know where they operate out of. I just know they've got operations moving against every major superhero at once. Things keep going the way they are, not even Superman and Sentry'll be able to stop things. His intact lip curled up in a smile. We're not done here in Gotham. We're everywhere, and soon, you won't be.
He let out a dry chuckle. If you insist on getting yourself killed more quickly than scheduled, fate obviously means for it to happen. I'd check Queens, New York. We've been working fast, there. Doing some pest control, keeping the friendly neighborhood watch busy.
The Phantom let out a grunt. Par... Spider-Man. He muttered. Damn.
Are you done with him? Batman asked.
The Phantom looked to the team. I am, are we? He asked.
Par... kour? The kind of style these people might use to catch Spider-man? It might be worth looking into that sometime. "I'm fine." Atsuko said with a small nod, putting that thought aside.
The doctor nods that he is through. He can't help but feel good about seeing the Caped Crusader up close and not having to worry about him. Too much, at least.
'What was he going to do here? He's a part of them. What did they want him to do?' Masumi suggested.
"But seriously, can I have the coin? I mean he must have dozens of spares right?"
Even if he's turned down, Felix agrees that the team's work here is most likely done.
When exiting the building, he will quickly ask for some takeout.
Batman watches the Ravager, then relays the question back to Two-Face.
I was, He coughed. I was working my way up the ladder. I was increasing power. In only a few weeks, I'd have been able to take Penguin and Black Mask territories for myself. I would have had a massive unified front to be able to take out Batman. A founding member of the Justice League, furthering a Cape-Killer agenda.
Batman turns to Felix. Give me the coin, Felix. He said.
Give him the coin, Felix. The Phantom repeated, then turned to the group. Ready for a flight back to New York? He asked.
"It's never that easy." Atsuko noted as Two-Face talked about his plans - but then, supervillains weren't usually known for realistic assessments or pattern recognition. "Ready when you are." she added to the Phantom.
'I helped.' she thought proudly to herself. She then felt thankful that nobody could read her mind and realize that she's actually pretty pathetic for thinking that.
Ravager nodded her head, though she faced away from the Phantom when she did so.
Felix sighs and returns the coin by flipping it to Batman.
"Can I have a bat-a-rang then?" he asks, a 'pretty-please' smile on his face.
"Trust me, that's one souvenir you don't want, Felix." Says the doctor as he unconsciously rubs his shoulder.
And so ended their mission in Gotham, the Phantom changed back into his civilian guise, and gave the rest of the team the opportunity to do so, met with the Banshee and the Wraith back at the Chinese food shop, and from there, headed back to Eden.
In the plane, Jackie situated himself into one of those neck-pillows and stretched his arms. That went well. He said, tapping his fingers on the Neil Gaiman novel on his lap. We have another lead to follow. At earliest convenience for you all, we're headed to Queens. For those of you with that concern, that's okay with your parents? He asked.
Elaine raised her hand. I think it's okay with mine. She said.
Jackie shook his head. No. You're staying in Eden with Eddie and Media. Just in case the Cape-Killers decide to make another strike there.
Elaine crossed her arms, but Eddie looked rather content.
Besides a few bat-related stumbling blocks, this went about as well as expected. I wish I was able to pay you more than the paltry law-enforcer's sum you're getting, but I did manage to sneak a few batarangs through airport security in my suitcase. He smiled. I had to salvage them from the unconscious, but beside the light blood-staining, they should make for an interesting souvinere.
Felix fist pumps excitedly.
"Yes!"
He had an appreciation for the classics. It wasn't as if he would try practicing with them later, pretending to be a caped crusader.
"I will follow you anywhere!"
"Aaaand we're sure they don't have, like, tracking devices on them or anything?" Atsuko asked. She wasn't actually that interested in getting one - they were interesting souvenirs, but she tried to avoid collecting too many of such things... and hadn't really been involved with the Batman anyway.
She made a soft sound of elation upon the batarang souvenir reveal. Something to show for their efforts would be really cool to have. "They'll probably be fine... Right? Ehrm, about that though.... maybe? I don't want my mom to start worrying about what I'm doing..."
Jackie smiled. Glad to know you're so easily bought. He said.
Of course they had tracking devices. Two each, as a matter of fact. He likes his redundancy and contingencies. They've been taken out, but really, if Batman wants to know where you are, he already knows where you are.
Eddie spoke up. I'm sure I'd be able to fabricate something for you, Masumi, if you need it. He said.
We'll only be in Queens for, hopefully, a day, too.
The rest of the ride went by smoothly, parting ways, Jackie said, I'll contact you all in a day or so, do your best to rest up and prep yourselves. Read up on Spider-Man thugs, or something. He said.
As the group parted ways, Atsuko ducked out of sight of both people and cameras... then began taking the fast way home. She had a lot to think about, after all... both about her team and what she could do to better it.