[IC] Batman: Gotham Knights

[thatguy]

As soon as Victor lost consciousness, a foreign sensation overtook his entire being, like he was being torn apart atom by atom, he was unable to scream, to vocalize how much pain he was in. Then his atoms repaired themselves, and Victor's eyes opened, from shock and pain and terror. He saw the young woman from moments earlier as she teleported away.

"I'm in over my head," Victor managed in his mind, "I'm in over my head," he tried to move, to raise a finger at the very least, but everything hurt, there wasn't any way for him to express the pain, he could only watch on, immobile.

His eyes looked for some way to solve his situation, but then he heard movement and managed a cough in the ashy, destroyed environment. The movement was sounding like it was coming closer, and through the fires, a figure appeared, and for the first time in a long time, Victor was in fear for his life as the figure formed into Deadshot, a gun in the man's hand.

Victor's eyes grew in fear, but also anticipation as he registered a rise in everything about him, and he was able to move once more, If only a little bit here and there.

"G'night birdie," he heard Deadshot say in a mocking tone, and time slowed down once again, as Deadshot's finger landed upon the trigger, Victor reached out and grabbed the gun and pushed the marksman's hand up.

Time resumed and the sound of the gunshot rang in Victor's enhanced ears, "You missed!" Victor declared, and delivered a kick to Deadshot's recently broken rib, then he delivered a spinning kick to the rear of one of the man's knees, bringing him down a notch.

As Deadshot was getting ready to make a move with one of his wrist guns, Victor pulled out his last Vulture blade, and slammed it with as much force as he possibly could into the red recticle that protected a human eyeball in hopes of breaching it.

"Vultures only devour the desperate," Vic growled, his hearing picking up approaching authorities, "but maybe some other day," he scoffed and limped away from the wounded assasin, barely able to manage the two flights of stairs, looking at the body he tossed over the side and wiped sweat from his face and coughed as he avoided another small fire and finally reached his motorcycle, listening to the police sirens, The howls of the fire department, but he was lIstening to the worst of all those sounds as he started the bike back up.

As he drove through the hole he had entered, and down several stories, he was listening to everyone's reactions to his actions, his face a mess of sweat, pain, and resignation.

Some random vigilante had killed a man...

[Sheikarah]

Jenna was lost in her unconscious world as she felt nothing but pain. She had stretched herself thin, much thinner than ever before and she felt like the pain was going to rip her apart. A loud crashing sound pierced through her mind and she just barely opened her eyes to see the suit man fall and land near her. She couldn't move, the pain was too much for her, so Jenna watched through half closed eyes.

"Hey soldier. Get up, fight ain't over yet." He spoke and Jenna tried as hard as she could to move, to do something.

She fought through the pain and turned her head towards the hole in the ceiling, her eyes painfully widening as she saw Deadshot walk over to the bird guy she had teleported. Jenna tried to move as Deadshot pointed his gun at the bird and said "G'night birdie."

She gritted her teeth and pushed her body up with her arms, trying to do something to save him. Suddenly a gunshot rang out and she looked fearfully up at the masked man, who was actually fighting Deadshot and winning. Jenna collapsed again and listened to the sounds of fighting and then a motorcycle being driven away.

The pain resurfaced and Jenna turned towards the man in the suit. Her eyes widened as she realized that sirens and the sounds of heavy footsteps were getting closer. She couldn't stay there, she did not want to get involved with the police, she knew where that road led for people like her. She had to teleport, she had to go home, she had to...She couldn't.

The mere thought of teleporting any more made her skin crawl and the urge to throw up everything she had eaten in her life rose in her chest. Jenna focused and closed her eyes, but she only managed to teleport about an inch in the air and bile rose in her throat. The pain worsened and she spoke weakly, more to herself than anything else.

"I have to...I have to get out of here...I...They can't find me...I'm so...I'm so tired. It hurts..." She grit her teeth "It hurts so much..." She looked at the man in the suit and closed her eyes with a shake of her head "I can't...I can't..." Jenna slipped back into unconsciousness without a shred of hope or energy left.

[Pathfinder]

It was a battle of giants as the two powerhouses struggled for dominance over the other, a struggle that Forest was winning. That is until a new arrival showed up and smacked him with a large hammer. Forest didn't really feel much, it seemed that the hammer was made for concussive blows instead of deadly ones. However it was annoying, especially with his obnoxious voice. When the second blow came, Forest turned around to see the hammer hit him yet again. Before he could do anything however, the bad man threw his shoulder into Forest's "stomach" and flung his arms over his shoulder and in between his legs. With a titanic heave the bad man tossed Forest away, landing on several barrels that were smashed underneath his weight, spilling their contents all over him.

The pain was intense, like the chemicals were eating him alive. With only one way to upset the pain trying to invade his body, Forest absorbed the last of the nutrients that clung to the soil trapped inside of his body. This turned out to be a very bad idea. Somehow the chemicals made their way through the branches that covered his "stomach" and contaminated the soil held within with whatever it was that was in them. Pain turned to white hot anger as the chemicals burned their way through his veins. With a grunt of pain, the branches that made up his left arm began to shift and move throughout his body and added to the size of his right arm. Thorns of all shapes and sizes erupted from his body, twigs spider-webbed across his passive stone head as it changed into a mask of rage, and the wood of the branches all turned a shade redder.

The abomination that was Forest shambled painfully towards the one that caused the pain and wrapped what was left of his left arm around his neck and pulled him into the embrace of his fist. With the hand now as big as the bad mans torso, Forest started to slam him into the ground repeatedly. He kept at it until the ground cracked and the man stopped struggling. Finally tossing the object of his rage away, Forest released an even more monstrous roar before he collapsed upon himself. The chemicals having run their course had left Forest's body a wreck and everything hurt.

Slowly, Forest began to pull himself back to his regular form albeit looking like a mix between a wilted flower and a dead tree. With a whimper, Forest tried to crawl away before uttering a gravely "I did a bad." and passed out from the pain.

[An Outsider]

The Vulture managed to circumnavigate the real GCPD as he escaped the highrise by nothing more than sheer luck, as he would have been easy prey for the officers in his current state. The hostages had made it to the safety of the police cordon by now, all thanks to Blink's quick thinking, and the SWAT teams had entered, eager to bring down Deadshot and Vulture. The Gotham Cable News Network had managed to capture footage of the vigilante killing a man, and it already seemed to be all over the news, television and internet. Everyone watching was eager to see what would happen next.

Vulture managed to get his motorbike street level before he was picked up by a police helicopter, who recognised him almost immediately.

"I have eyes on the prime suspect, currently fleeing the scene." the co-pilot announced down the police band. The message was received by Detective Harvey Bullock, currently the senior officer at the scene of the siege.

"Roger that. Do not let him get away. I want an immediate pursuit. Lets show this scum what happens to cop-killers in this town!" Several police cruisers began to home in on Vulture's position, who would have to shake them and the helicopter somehow.

Back up on the highrise Paladin was finally starting to rouse himself, even if his body was physically crying out in protest. Deadshot was still up there, and he couldn't just lie around like a hump of scrap while that madman was still on the loose. The girl under the table had squirmed around for a bit before falling back into unconsciousness, but she would be safe until he had dealt with Lawton. Aaron was still demanding a sit-rep, but by his increasingly calm voice it sounded like he had realised that Galahad wasn't dead and was instead just ignoring him. The armour felt heavier than usual as Paladin picked himself up, indicating that some of the load servos were probably busted in the explosion. His power levels were also low, in fact he was near running on fumes, but it would have to do for now as there was no time to go back for a recharge.

"Paladin, listen to me dammit!" Aaron was sounding awful excitable again. "The GCPD swat are entering the building, intent on rounding up Deadshot and ALL vigilante's. Apparently that other guy killed a cop, you need to get out of there NOW!" Ok, that was worth getting excited over. There was no way the Knight armour had enough juice left to go at it with the cops, and Galahad wasn't in a much better state himself. And if the cops did get their hands on him then it would only be a matter of time until someone managed to figure out who he used to be, and that would spell all kinds of trouble. Running now meant leaving Deadshot, who would probably be crafty enough to escape the cops himself, but staying to fight Lawton would probably get both of them captured. It was a hard decision, but Galahad had to live to fight another day. He turned for the window.

"Right, I'm gone Blacksmith." The girl was still tucked under the table, oblivious to the world. Poor kid, she was gonna be easy meat for the cops there, but what could Paladin do? He barely had enough fuel left to get himself back, forget taking a passenger, especially one he'd never met before. And she had saved the hostages, maybe that would keep her golden with the police? Maybe, but deep down he knew what he knew the answer to that, and it wasn't pretty. She was an accomplice to a cop-killer, and no amount of good deeds would hold her in high esteem with the GCPD now. Still, that was life the life she had chosen for herself, she'd have to live with the consequences. He made it to the window and shot out the saftey glass. He could hear the cops coming up the stairs now, heard them picking up the pace as they heard the gunfire. He turned to look at the girl one last time.

In that moment she looked like another girl he'd known once a long time ago, one he'd failed to save.

"Dammit," he sighed, running back across and picking the teleporter up as gently as he could. The cops were close now.

"What are you doing, get out of there!" screamed Aaron, and edge of panic to his voice. If Paladin got caught then they'd be able to trace him back to the doctor.

"I'm a knight, I save damsels." returned the armoured hero. Aaron's reply was the first time Galahad had ever heard him swear. He engaged his boot thrusters at the precise moment the SWAT kicked open the office door, but by the time they had taken aim he was already jetting across the night sky, Blink cradled in his arms like a sleeping child.

Two floors up Deadshot pulled his mask and reticule off, revealing a swarthy, moustachioed face. Thankfully Vulture's blade hadn't pierced the eyepiece, otherwise that 'Worlds deadliest sniper' title would have become a lot harder to maintain. Two disguised League of Assassin members approached him, handing him a GCPD SWAT uniform. Deadshot quickly got changed, pulling the new headgear into place last.

"So how'd I do? Distract them long enough?" he asked the assassins as they strode quickly towards a stairwell. The lead ninja replied without moving his head

"You have performed admirably, the master is please."

Deadshot smiled under his mask.

"I'm pleased too. Easiest money I've ever made, pulling the wool over those chumps eyes." No one thought to stop the three SWAT officers, so Deadshot made good his escape.

---

"How could you bring her back here! You don't even know who she is!"

"I do."

"Oh yeah? What's her name then genius?"

"Uhh, that I don't know. . . But I do know who she is. She's someone who's willing to risk her life to save some scared hostages. That puts her pretty high in my esteem."

"Oh well forgive me for questioning your judgement then, just excuse me if I don't leave out the good silverware around her."

Needless to say Aaron hadn't taken the news that they were having a guest in the Smithy well. He had tried to stop his friend from bringing her down, but once Galahad's mind was made up it was near impossible to change it. The doctor had to content himself with wearing a blacked out welders mask to try and hide his identity from her. Paladin had settled the passed out girl onto a fold out cot in the corner of the abandoned station before setting himself the enormous task of convincing Aaron that they should let her stay at least for now. It wasn't going well. . .

"Just shutup for now and help me get this armour off, huh? I think the clasps broke in that fall." Galahad was struggling to remove the dented armour, a task seemingly more difficult than calming down Aaron, who came grumbling to help, leaving the unconscious Blink on her own for now.

[Sheikarah]

Jenna had been in too much pain to register being picked up or flown across Gotham, but now that she had gotten a little bit of rest, the pain was starting to subside. Her painful unconscious dreams were fading and she started to hear unfamiliar voices.

"How could you......Here! You don't....Know....She is!"

"I do." That voice was more familiar to Jenna but she couldn't quite place it.

"Oh yeah? What's....Name....Genius?" Jenna tried to swallow but her throat was too dry and she didn't have the energy to open her eyes yet.

"Uhh, that...don't know...But I....know who she is." Her hearing finally became clear "She's someone who's willing to risk her life to save some scared hostages. That puts her pretty high in my esteem."

"Oh well forgive me for questioning your judgement then, just excuse me if I don't leave out the good silverware around her." If Jenna could glare at the unknown man, she would be.

"Just shutup for now and help me get this armour off, huh? I think the clasps broke in that fall." Finally Jenna realized that the man who was defending her was the guy in the suit that had crashed into the Deadshot fiasco.

She opened her eyes and saw concrete above her and around her in the walls. Jenna started to panic when she realized she was in an underground station of some sort, and she had no idea where she was. She stayed quiet as she turned her head and saw the guy in the suit and another man in a welder's mask trying to get the metal off. There were a lot of computer monitors and other high end tech all over the station and she was really confused. Jenna thought about teleporting home but she knew she'd never be able to make it that far for a while yet. She sat up and winced as her belly screamed in protest and unwillingly let out a small grunt of pain, just loud enough to get the attention of the two men. Jenna grit her teeth and held her stomach with her arm and leaned most of her weight on the other arm on the small cot. She glared and spoke coldly, using all of her experience and skill to keep her panic and confusion out of her voice and face.

"Where am I? And who the hell are you?" She focused her glare on the guy in the welder's mask.

[thatguy]

Victor looked down at the bike's gauges as he sped off from the crime scene, and realized that the bike would never make it back to his crummy apartment. He tried to think, but he too was running on fumes, the boost from Deadshot acting more like a sip of moutain dew now.

As he turned a corner on Finger street, just a few blocks away, he was met with the brightest light he had ever seen in his life, and the wind was picking up heavily, kicking up all kinds of dust in trash, but he soldiered on and sped under the GCPD issued helicopter, ignoring their demands for him to surrender.

The light encircled him as he pulled the bike to the right, disoritentating his vision, and his hearing picked up several sirens coming his way. He drove through a red light, both sides cop cruisers were coming after him and trying to box him in and match speeds. One of the cop passengers used their car horn to deliver an ultimatum, but Vic didn't listen, hell he could hardly hold his head up. Instead he just turned to face the cops to the right and gave him the bird, pulling his back tire up in a front wheelie and screeched to a stop.

He turned Immediately, forcing the cars to go in reverse, which made them slower, but the helicopter kept pace. He tried to rack his brain with ideas and safe places to hide, but witj the cops on him like this, he would be killed by his bosses by bringing them to the front door, and being dressed like this he would stick out like a sore thumb. But right now he had bigger things to deal with as the two cars had now become four, and he was just several blocks away from the crime scene, he heard a loud semi truck a block or two away, probably in a traffic jam. Then an idea began to form in his head and he smirked at the driver to his right, the man taking his eyrs off the road for only a second.

This allowed Victor and swerve really close to him, causing him to react and pull onto a shopping busy sidewalk and ram into a tree. Four had become three with him in the lead. He look to the car on his left, and dug into his jacket, feigning to pull out a gun, and being an unknown vigilante, they had no clue what he was capable of, so the occupants ducked, causing the car to jerk and slam into a parked car.

Now he just had two to contend with behind him, and the helicopter behind him. He started taking off his gloves while pulling off a cut corner, the sound of the truck getting closer. He tried for another couple of blocks to lose the last two, but to no avail.

Finally he caught sight of it, the truck was carrying a cargo hold, so it would be a good way to conceal himself from his pursuers. He pulled a tight curve around a larging banking institution, for the first time in minutes, the helicopter had pull off him for a minute to avoid colliding with the multi-story building. The truck now two blocks away, in a traffic jam because of his chase, but on the other side of it, was a public transit station.

There was no way the cops could through the jam, and the helicopter was off of him for yhe next few moments, so he took the bull by the horns and revved the engine, pushing the machine to it's limit until...

He leaned the bike over, so far over that his leg was scraping pavement, his pants were getting torn up and he no doubt drew blood. The cops had stopped and the light shown where he was only a second ago. He fell off the bike, letting it smash into the truck while he landed in the middle of it.

Quickly he tore off his half mask and stuffed it into his pocket, he took off his letterman jacket as he rolled over, still not completely through with his momentum, and tore off his bulletproof vest when he stopped.

Now he just looked like some really sweaty high school jock kind of punk. He pulled himself up and sat down on the bench. The searchlight scanning everywhere for him, but unable to locate him, the cops had pulled the driver out his cab to search the vehicle to no avail.

And finally the bus rolled through, Victor prayed to whoever was looking out for him Up There tjat he had change in his pocket, and swore to God Almighty when he found loose changd on the ground, equal to a Gotham bus fare and hoped on, walking no chalantly to the back of the bus, and wiped his sweaty brow after coming to terms with his safety as the bus pulled away onto the night...

[An Outsider]

"Where am I? And who the hell are you?" Well, not the most promising start, but Galahad would just have to work with it. The girl was still slumped on the cot, having the appearance of someone in great pain, but going to lengths to hide it. He could relate to that, after what had happened tonight. As soon as she had spoken up Aaron had leapt behind him, like Shaggy jumping behind Fred in a Scooby-Doo cartoon. It woulda been comical if it wasn't so pathetic. Galahad, with the Doctor's help, had already stripped most of the armour, the only pieces left on him being the breastplate and the boots, and with the battering he had taken earlier he really wasn't up to another rumble so soon, even if he had been inclined to fight the girl. Instead he just raised his arms slowly into the air, like a man surrendering.

“Easy now, we don't mean you no harm. . .” he began, but was interrupted by Aaron chirping in from behind.

“In fact you should be thanking us, we saved you!” Galahad didn't miss the fact that it was now the plural we that had done the saving, but decided to ignore for now.

“Your sitting on a cot situated in an abandoned Subway station in the old East-End,” Aaron made a sound akin to a mouse's eep at the reveal of their secret base “And yes, you can leave whenever you want. You can call me Galahad, and this is. . .”

“Oh no you don't, you can spill your own secrets to our mysterious guest, but do me the favour of leaving mine well enough alone!” Shrieked his friend, his voice sounding vaguely metallic from behind the welders mask. Galahad shrugged in response.

“This is the Blacksmith.” The vigilante edged towards a table which was stacked high with papers and designs, complex looking mathematical equations that were obviously plans for Aaron's next armour designs. He pulled out a chair slowly and sat down, a look of pure bliss passing across his face as he settled his weary frame. Then he continued.

“You passed out in that high-rise. Usually I woulda left you too it, but the SWAT were closing in and I reckoned you'd rather stay outta prison orange. Seems your partner killed a cop tonight, which I'm gonna have to have words with him about, sooner rather than later.” He left her to think about that while he turned to Aaron.

“Make yourself useful and make me some coffee huh? Maybe a sandwich too. And mind a good host would ask the guest if they want anything too.” If it was possible to look outraged in a blacked out mask, then the Doctor managed it, but stomped through to the kitchen nonetheless, grumbling the whole time about the injustices visited upon him.

[Sheikarah]

Jenna raised an eyebrow at Galahad's seemingly kind gesture and watched the Blacksmith guy walk out of the room. She took a deep breath and figured out how long she would have to wait until she could get out of here. The old East-end...That means it's about five miles back to the warehouse district, I could cross that in... Jenna silently cursed Half an hour at the very earliest. Even then I'd probably pass out as soon as I got there.

She shook her head and muttered under her breath "Fantastic." She looked back up at Galahad and tried to get a read on him, but the only expression on his face she could see was weariness. That didn't sit well with her. She looked around at the subway station and wondered why people with such advanced tech would pick this as their secret base.

Jenna crossed both her arms across her chest and furrowed her brow at Galahad, processing his last words to her. Finally she spoke "I don't have a partner. I've never seen that bird guy before in my life."

The Blacksmith walked in and handed a cup of coffee and a sandwich to Galahad and Jenna ignored the painful rumbling of her empty stomach. She thought back to the first words she heard and raised her eyebrow at the masked man. "And you don't have to worry about the silverware, I'll be gone in thirty five."

She looked between both of them for a minute before her eyes rested on Galahad's face. Jenna's brow furrowed slightly and she spoke frankly "I could have gotten away from the cops once I woke up. You had a clear path out, and I didn't asked to be 'saved'." She leaned slightly forward and stared intently at Galahad "Why did you come back for me? What's in it for you?"

[An Outsider]

"Probably just as well you don't know him. I can't imagine he and I are gonna be getting on good terms after tonight's stunt," replied Galahad, his voice full of grim portent. Not that he hadn't killed in the past himself, in fact there was one point that he'd made a career out of it, but that was a different life and he had to hold himself to a different standard now. Still, that was a problem for another day.

Aaron handed him his coffee and a sandwich, the beverage arriving in a batman mug. Sometimes the Doctors form of hero worship for the caped crusader went to far. Galahad was just about to tuck in when he heard an awful groaning coming from across the room. He looked up in mild alarm before realising it was the girls stomach making that ungodly noise. She didn't look like she'd eaten in a while. With a sigh he placed the plate on the floor and slid the food across to her, while giving her a look that said 'Don't be stubborn, eat the damn sandwich'.

Weariness gave way to anger at her demands of him. He sat more rigid in the chair, his eyes blazed with fury and his hand dropped to the belt that would have at one time held his sidearm. He had saved her, at risk to himself, and she was yet to thank him, instead demanding to know his reasons. His reasons were his own, and would remain as such until he deemed otherwise. He took a second to try and calm down, knowing that his anger was irrational and unhealthy, realising it was just a product of his weariness and the fact her appearance reminded him of painful memories he would rather keep buried. Luckily he had been taught to master his emotions, and it wasn't long until he was back in control.

"Maybe you coulda got away on your own, luckily I saved you the trouble. And isn't it what people like us do, huh? Save people? So don't ask me stupid questions kid, I especially ain't in the mood tonight after I had a building collapse on top of me." He took a sip of his coffee.

[Sheikarah]

Jenna took a suspicious glance at the sandwich and sighed, realizing that she owed Galahad a lot. She picked up the plate and quickly scanned the sandwich with her eyes before she took a cautious bite. She saw the fury rise and fall in his eyes as she slowly ate and tried to get her stubborn side out of the way long enough to get out of here without making an enemy out of someone she would really rather be neutral to her. After she finished the sandwich she turned away from Galahad and sighed.

"Thanks." Jenna sighed again and took another look at her surroundings, raising an eye at the Batman mug Galahad was holding. She tried to figure Galahad out but after that momentary burst of anger she only saw a level of control that made her uneasy. People in control of their emotions were harder to predict and Jenna had learned a long time ago that the key to survival was planning for what the other person would do, and with Galahad she couldn't.

Jenna glanced her eyes at the Blacksmith and fought the urge to roll her eyes at the welder's mask. She tried to keep her voice even and non-confrontational while she spoke to him "I'm not going to tell anybody about your base. I want to get out of here just as much as you want me gone." She pulled her knees to her chest and put her arms over them "If it's any consolation, I didn't mean to pass out back there. I've never taken that many people with me before, I guess it was too much for me to handle."

[An Outsider]

Aaron managed a huffy harrumph at the girls comment, before taking the empty plate and returning to the kitchen. It had to be said that for someone desperate to emulate Batman he was managing to copy the abrasive personality pretty well. Galahad shook his head slightly, more than a little embarrassed by his partner's attitude. For someone so clever he sure could act like an idiot.

"Don't rush out on his account, wait until your ready to do that teleporting trick again." Galahad didn't want her passing out again because she taxed herself to soon. "And I don't know if you passed out before you got to see it or not, but all those hostages got out safe, all thanks to you soldier. I'll take it easy on you for being a pain in my ass for that, let's just not make a habit of it." he grinned slightly, to show that he wasn't being completely serious.

"So, before you go, what do I call you? I gotta feeling we'll probably be crossing paths again in the future."

[thatguy]

Victor leaned his head against the glass, sweat build up running down his face and onto the glass pane, his vision interchanging between blurred and regular, almost reaching tunnel-like vision. He then took this uncertain moment to pass out, unaware that he was near the End of The Line.

When he awoke, he jumped with a start, swearing and grimacing at the pain in his leg, the blood leaking out the bad scrape and starting to containmate the floor. For a moment, he didn't recognize the man before him and lunged painfully, slamming his head against the opposite window, nearly breaking it with the man's head. Then his vision went on it's regular path and the man he had just beaten was the bus driver. "Shit," Victor swore,

"Please," the overweight driver cried out, though a little muffled, "please let me go man,"

"And why would I do that? Do you know what Gotham does to beggars? Well, do you?" Vulture growled, digging the man further against the broken window,

"Please," the man repeated, this time resorting to tears, "please, I, I have a family,"

For a moment it didn't register what the man said, Victoria's pained cranium too slow to react, then he heard the statement and the sweat from his head ejected something from his eyes, tears. "I-i'm sorry," he stuttered and pushed the man into the seats.

He hobbled along until he fell out of the bus, growling in pain at his leg, taking a moment to register that he was at the Gotham Public Transit Center. He got back up and limped away, wiping sweat from his face every few seconds, trying to avoid eye contact with passersby. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Victor, now ever so sluggish and near passing out, entered a barbershop.

He pointed quietly at the old hair stylist in a threatening manner as the man was sweeping up his last customer's chopped off bits and pieces of hair. Slowly the old balding man realized who he was and looked from Victor to a door nearest him, "he's not busy, you can go inside," the man's voice was hoarse, and seemed scratchy, but there was an undertone of resignation.

"I better," Victor spat at the spineless old man as he limped past him, but the old man reached out with his broom, and tripped Victor, causing him to scream in pain and making the door behind them open suddenly.

"Oh dare you, old man!" Victor screamed and cradled his wounded leg, "oh i'm so going to-" he started to form a threat on his chapped, sweaty, and exhausted lips, but he was cut off by another man,

"What are you going to do, kid? We die, your mommy dies," the man, dressed up in green surgeon scrubs and wearing highly reflective glasses, the frames shaped like stars.

And the Crime Doctor laughed at the man bleeding out on the hair covered floor.

[RumikoOhara]

Cypher on the Hunt

Elli like most of Gotham had seen the fight between Deadshot the Police and an unidentified Vigilante. She like the rest of those watching had seen the man tossed like garbage out of the building.
He was surely dead on impact and the police already on the hunt but Cypher knew they stood little chance of tracing the vigilante.
It was then that she made the decision to trace him herself.

Gathering up her disguise kit she chose the simplest to pass scrutiny: she'd go as a reporter for the Gotham associate of the London Times.
She donned a red wig cut dutch and put in blue contacts, after that she chose to dress an do a butch make up theme.
She then put a passport and visa she'd had doctored by a counterfeiter she'd caught an now kept on a leash for just such articles needed for her disguises.

Dressed and hidden in her disguise Cypher caught a cab to the crime scene and stepped out once it arrived then blended in with the other members of the press.
When she spoke Elli used a London East End accent careful not to allow her Cambridge accent show less someone detect the character was false.

She had to blend in with people that were hired for their suspicious natures and deflected them by hitting on a pretty blond reporter from Channel 7 Action News. This it seemed gave the others something to focus on other than the fact that Elli was a competitor they didn't know, it also got her the blond's person number.

Once she'd been seen by the police that surrounded the building she used her skills at Parkor to gain access. She made sure as she moved through the building to keep her press badge visible an camera in hand.

Soon she saw the police CSI team leave the area of the final confrontation scene satisfied they'd gotten all they needed.
Cypher pocketed several small items for later scanning then went as carefully as she could through the building till she gained access to the floor that the man had been thrown from. She had to be quick as she palmed several small items and took about twenty pictures in case she was caught.

Cypher then used all her skill to exit the building and move over to the building that the Vigilante had used as a launching pad and laying there on the street beneath where he'd broken through the window was a rear view mirror from a motorcycle. Cypher fought to restrain herself from giggling for joy at so special a fetter.

She called such items fetters after the special articles which ghost hunters claimed tied spirits to them. For Cypher such items did contain spirits of the past and she could interrogate them for information.

She noticed that some reporters were gathering in a nearby coffee shop to wait for the police to open the building to their curiosity and she wanted a better look herself. Entering the shop Cypher ordered a simple black coffee hen sat down to do some simple scans of some of her collected items.

First was a note pad from the final showdown so leaning back she drifted back in time.

The action began as a young woman suddenly appeared out of no where surrounded by the hostages. She staggered obviously in discomfort and all the hostages immediately started running towards the stairs in a panic. The Teleporting girl weakly crawled under an overturned desk before she seemed to completely loose consciousness.

What happened next was chaos as Deadshot appeared and said "G'night birdie,"

The Vigilante reached out and grabbed the gun and pushed it up just as the killer fired

"You missed!" Said the Vigilante before he delivered a spinning kick to the rear of one of Deadshot's knees dropping him.

The Vigilante pulled out a blade and drove it into Deadshot's gun sight eyepiece as he said "Vultures only devour the desperate, but maybe some other day," he then limped away to make his escape as the police entered the building.

[Sheikarah]

Jenna sighed as the Blacksmith walked out with a "Hmph". It didn't really matter to her, she'd grown used to that kind of treatment over the years but it was still slightly irritating. The knowledge that the hostages hadn't been stopped by Deadshot made her happy and she forced a weak smile at Galahad's comment. After a second Jenna realized what he had just asked her and her eyes widened slightly as she turned to face him.

"My...My name?" She fidgeted a little bit "Umm..." Jenna knew that she couldn't tell him her real name, but she hadn't ever needed to come up with an alias before. None of the thugs and lowlifes she stopped or the people she saved had ever asked her what her name was, and now she was trying to think of one that wouldn't sound completely idiotic.

Jenna nervously ran a hand through her hair as she thought. Most superheroes and vigilantes she knew of had names that reflected their powers, like Deadshot, or their costume themes, like the famous Batman. Unfortunately, she didn't really have a costume so she had to work with her power. After a second of thought she decided that Teleport was out, along with Transport Girl and the dozen other names she thought of in the few seconds after Galahad asked her for her name.

Finally she swallowed the lump in her throat and tentatively spoke. "You can, uh...Call me Blink. Yeah, Blink." Jenna weakly smiled and pulled herself into a slightly tighter ball "What makes you think we'll meet again?"

[An Outsider]

She paused that long Galahad was forced to wonder if she'd been hurt worse than he thought, maybe in the cranial department. She didn't look she suffered a head injury, but he knew by experience that they could be funny. He'd seen a lotta strong, healthy looking men brought down by a blow to the head. At long last she answered 'Blink', a tentativeness to her voice like she was just trying the name out for the first time. If she was then it was a good pick, better than calling herself Teleport, or something like that. A good hero name was half the battle, or so Aaron had told him when he had revealed they'd be calling him 'Paladin'.

Blink had pulled herself into a ball on the cot, making him wonder how old this girl was. She didn't look to be much more than seventeen, if that. What was someone like her doing on the streets of Gotham. He had a sudden urge to press her to stay with him and Aaron, but knew she would never go for it. She was proud, he could tell, and wouldn't accept the help, not if it was forced upon her. All he could do, he realised, was keep an eye on her.

"Maybe I just think we should meet again. Might not act like it, but me and Blacksmith are new to this whole vigilante gig too," That much was the truth. In his last life Galahad was about as far from a hero as you could get. "I reckon we could both use the help."

[Sheikarah]

Jenna saw something in Galahad's eyes that looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to make her stay. She decided to leave it alone before she raised an eyebrow and glanced around "Really? You guys are new to this and you've got all this tech?"

She let out a small chuckle "I've been doing this for two years and the best I've got is this." She pulled the hood of her old jacket over her face and shrugged. Jenna pulled the hood back down and relaxed just slightly. She let a small smile across her face and looked around again. "You don't really need help from me, it looks like you've got as much of a handle on this crime fighting thing as I do."

Jenna leaned back against the subway wall and looked at Galahad with slightly narrowed eyes "You know, this doesn't really seem like the awesome super hero, 'check out my metal suit and fancy computers', kind of base. Why are you here of all places?" She closed her eyes and realized that she should probably be heading home.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna get out of here. Thanks for the help, and the sandwich, it was actually really good." Jenna stood and looked around again to make sure she remembered this place before she turned to Galahad. "If Blacksmith doesn't mind, I might come back later to finish our conversation." She saluted casually "See you around, Soldier." Jenna smiled and teleported back to the warehouse.

She winced slightly once she got there but luckily she had waited long enough to make sure she wouldn't pass out. Jenna made her check around the warehouse and went to her room. Jenna glanced at the torn up calendar on the wall and nodded while she thought to herself. Looks like I'm working at Joe's tomorrow. God, I hope Isaac isn't working tomorrow. Jenna curled up in her bed and fell asleep as she thought about Galahad and Blacksmith.

[RumikoOhara]

As the sun finally rose over Gotham Cypher in her guise as a reporter had managed to piece together last night's bloody events.
First this was all staged for reasons yet unknown by whoever had hired the Madman Deadshot
Second was that Deadshot himself was merely a pawn in all this.
Third, that the unidentified Vigilante hadn't killed an actual cop but one of Deadshot's men disguised as such

It was all such a mess that Cypher herself was going to need time to unravel it all herself. She knew the Vigilante hadn'T killed a cop bit her did kill.

This was her first mission in the whole buggered thing, she would need to track the Vigilante down and create leverage over him like she sometimes did over criminals she forced to do her bidding.

She used her charm and a fake phone number to get an enamored young cop to tell her where the last reported an verified sighting of the Vigilante was and was once more on the track.

Soon Cypher was changed from her reporter guise and was now in her Avon Lady guise after stopping by her office.
She stepped out of an old Tarus and collected her samples bag and walked around the Gotham Public Transit Center's perimeter till she found her quarry's trail once more.

This was not her first time stalking a dangerous man in a less than desirable location so when two young toughs walked towards her with greed mingling with lust she was prepared.

Instantly she went on the offensive by reaching out and taking the first young man's hand as if to merely shake it which threw him completely off guard. She then cinched the deal with a back scan smiling at how easy her next step was.

"Jeff Carmel just the Felon I was looking for" she says cheerfully after back reading this morning's meeting with his probation officer. As she continued to read him she turned to his buddy saying "David I'm not sure you two should be in one another's company do you?".

Both young men are totally stunned that she seems to know so much about them even though they're sure they've never met her.

"Now if you two will go over and climb on the number 61 bus and leave right now then we won't have to run you in for probation violations; you don't want to do the other nickel do you Jeff?"

Cypher giggles softly as she watches the two run for the bus and climb on.
"Poor Boys I think I confused them too much"

Cypher is soon Back on the Vigilante's trail which eventually leads Cypher towards a Barber Shop.

[An Outsider]

The girl made a quick exit after that, casually fading outta existence, the same teleporting trick she had exhibited earlier. Aaron, who had skulked in moments before, whistled in appreciation.

"That's really something," he said in awe. "Wonder how she manages that. I imagine it must be some form of disassembly of her base molecules an. . . " Galahad shushed him quiet, knowing that if he let the doctor have his way then they'd both be sitting there all night listening to drivel.

"Not interested Aaron." he said, leveraging himself out of the chair.

"But. . . but, if I could just repli. . . "

"Nope, I like my molecules the way they are, good an assembled." He pulled the last of the armour off and made for the recently vacated cot. That's all he wanted in the world right now, just to catch some shut eye. Every thing looked better in the morning, even the fact that you'd let a dangerous assassin escape the night before, just to save a girl you'd just met.

"You're going to bed? Already? But we have so much to discuss, like Deadshot's escape, and this new 'Blink' girl, the one that knows our location now, thanks to you!" moaned Aaron. He could teach a toddler a thing or two about grumping. Galahad vented a satisfied sigh as he dumped himself upon the cot.

"Tell you what Aaron. Next time you go out on the mission and I'll sit here and bitch down the phone the whole time. You can be the one that fights the dangerous sociopath, you can be the one to have a building collapse on you and you can be the one to decide whether it's better to leave a girl to a sordid fate or to compromise your own safety. Then I can wait until you get back, and demand you stay up to 'talk', like a woman." With that outta the way he turned over, and closed his eyes. Aaron didn't say much after that.

[Sheikarah]

Morning came all too soon for Jenna, and as she got out of bed she groaned, wincing as she discovered the bruises from yesterday's "adventure". She quickly checked to make sure she wasn't seriously injured before she sighed and teleported to an alley a few blocks away from "Joe's Cafe", her workplace for the day. She walked around the small restaurant and knocked on the back door, smiling slightly when Mr. Baxter, the owner, opened the door and greeted her.

"Well I was wondering when you were gonna show up!" The middle aged Hispanic man laughed and motioned inside "Come on in Chica, I've got a lot for you to do."

Jenna nodded "Thanks." She walked in and glanced around the small kitchen "Is Isaac here?"

"You know it!" Jenna rolled her eyes and groaned internally when the most obnoxious college kid she had ever met came sauntering into the back room. Isaac gave her a wink and a cocky smirk before he grabbed a few tools and walked back out.

She turned back to Mr. Baxter "Where do you want me to start?"

Baxter thought for a minute before pointing to the front of the kitchen "I need the bar and the floor around it cleaned ASAP." Jenna nodded and grabbed the mop while Mr. Baxter went back to cooking.

For a while Jenna cleaned in silence, making eye contact and a little small talk with some of the customers, but Isaac finished fixing whatever had broken and leaned against the bar, smiling smugly at Jenna. She tried to ignore him but he put a foot on her mop and she sighed "What do you want, Isaac?"

"Oh, nothing much, I just wanted to invite you to get a drink with me later." He put on one of those faces that make dumb girls swoon but Jenna just raised her eyebrow.

"I told you last week, I'm underage." She pulled the mop out from under his foot and turned away from him. He quickly walked in front of her and leaned closer to her.

"Come on, they don't card at my apartment."

Jenna rolled her eyes and turned again just as a tall guy with a dark expression walked through the door. Jenna would have looked closer at him, something in his eyes made her think he was about to do something bad, but before she could, Isaac snatched the mop out of her hands and smirked. "Come on, just a little drink?"

Jenna could feel her irritation rising and she wanted to punch him in the throat but she stayed calm "Isaac, look. I've said it before about a dozen times, but apparently your lizard brain can't comprehend it so I'll say it again." She crossed her arms across her chest and glared "I am Never going to go out with you."

Isaac's eyes started to blaze and he smiled "Well then we have a problem." Jenna rolled her eyes again and he continued "You see, I know this whole deal you have with Baxter isn't exactly legal." Jenna raised an eyebrow "So that means if I make one call to the cops, your homeless ass is getting put in jail since you can't pay the fine."
Jenna's eyes widened slightly and Isaac's smile grew "But I'm not a mean guy, so if you were to..." His eyes glinted darkly "Give me a reason not to, I wouldn't."

Jenna thought for half a second before she shook her head resolutely "Not going to happen." She turned again but Isaac grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to him.

"Oh I don't think you have much of a choice." In an instant Jenna had pulled her hand back and punched Isaac in the face, knocking him to the floor. She stood over him and glared daggers while he wiped his bleeding nose.

"Still not going to happen, Jackass." Jenna turned and walked towards the door, making brief eye contact with the dark looking guy that had walked in a moment earlier. Something about him seemed familiar to Jenna, especially his eyes, but she couldn't quite place him so she walked past him with only a second thought. Once she was outside, Jenna turned into the alley and leaned against the wall, mentally counting the money she had stashed back at the warehouse. She sighed again when she figured it out and tried to think of a plan.

[Pathfinder]

The pain Forest felt was both immense and all encompassing. Creaking his eyes open, Forest dragged his head around and scanned the area. The bad man from last night was no where to be seen but his evidence of being here was still apparent. Straining his arms, Forest was dismayed to find that the strength that once filled him was gone and the burning was still there, even more so than when he first awoke. Giving a groan that sounded like a cross between a man in pain and wood straining to support the weight of a large stone. Thankfully Forest found he strength to stagger out of the whole that was made last night before collapsing again. Gazing into the puddle in front of him, Forest realized that he had lost a lot of his mass and he was grossly discolored.

Not daring to accept water this close to chemicals, Forest began shambling towards the one place that would have enough nutrients to bring him back to full strength. It was risky but he didn't have anywhere left to go, Forest had to go to the park. Ever since his first time in the city, Forest had avoided the place like root rot. The plants were mean, they would bite or grab at Forest and when he tried to gain nutrients from the soil a foreign voice invaded his mind. It promised acceptance, told him he was beautiful, and wanted him too join it. Ever since then he didn't want to return, it was hard enough to resist their lure when at full strength but it was a risk he was willing to take. Forest didn't want to go to the black place again. It took several hours and and many cases of screaming civilians but Forest finally made it to the park. Punching several grabby plants into submission, Forest took a deep breath before plunging his hands into the dirt and extending his roots far into the earth.

The relief was immediate as the nutrients flowed through his veins and gave strength to his tired limbs. However, soon his vision went to black and the stench of the swamps filled his mind. When Forest awoke again, he was underwater. The situation wasn't unpleasant as he didn't need to breath really, it was mostly just odd. Slowly, he rose from his position from the swamp floor and made his way to shallower water. Forest was a little unnerved by the whole situation, especially since he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. The swamp seemed to never end and everything looked the same, as if he was walking in circles. Forest was about to give up when he heard it, a giggle from behind. Quickly, Forest turned and tried to get a glimpse at what had made the noise but failed as it happened again from behind him.

Forest was about to get angry when the owner of the voice made itself, or rather herself known. Now Forest got angry, it was none other than the green lady. With a low growl, Forest got into a combat stance and pounced. With his fists, Forest smashed the ground where the green lady stood as she had disappeared. Turning his head, Forest discovered that she was everywhere. There were hundreds of her and they sounded angry. Eerily, they all attacked an mass completely quietly. Roaring, Forest began to punch and smash left and right but they just kept coming. Eventually they began to overwhelm Forest and get through his defenses.

Angrily, Forest said "You will NOT have me!" as he surged with strength and created an explosion of flying bodies. However soon after, Forest blacked out and came to holding a car over his head as people looked on in horror. As Forest looked on, realization fled into his being as a foreign voice entered his head and sounded exactly like the green lady. It said "I don't need to get you Forest...your already mine. as it laughed into oblivion.