DC Beyond

Wayne State Manor

Amity wasn't afraid of the dark. She'd always been willing to walk into shady places and meet black-hearted people, confident that her skills, contacts, and badge would let her out smelling like a rose. Deals with the various families, corrupt cops, and even Derek Powers were all cake, and she had dreams of bigger scores. Maybe her own territory, and a cushy job in some corp.

But this was agony. The searing, tearing pain, with knives of frost digging in and pushing towards her heart. Her eyes were watering, and it was only her disorientation at what had happened that prevented her from howling like a beast. On instinct, she backed up until she was in the corner and began fumbling in her pocket for anything that would help. A gun, another knife, anything. Instead, she came up with a small roll of duct tape she'd grabbed to use on Wayne and began hastily patching up the wound, letting out a low, eerie moan as she clumsily wrapped lines of it around the bleeding stump. Somehow a few strips of yellow safety tape had gotten mixed in, and they fluttered slightly, like a stained flag of failure.

Amity stared around the room, looking at each of them, but she didn't seem to be focusing properly. One of her eyes looked bloodshot and raw. Snarling, Amity grabbed a handful of her own blood and splattered it around the room. With the benefit of the distraction, she darted out, half-weaving as she ran. Hopefully she'd make it back to the car before the adrenaline wore out. The faint sounds of police sirens rang in her ears, though she couldn't tell if they were real. If anything was real beyond the pain and humiliation. Beaten. Beaten by two freaky kids and an old man.

Edited by Booky on Apr 17th 2024 at 9:54:04 AM

Wayne-Powers Labs

"I must say, I admire your... reckless impudence, young Miss Isley," Slade intoned dryly, chuckling at the sheer audacity of the plant woman as he shook his head slowly. "I don't think you understand that I am employed currently by Powers via contract, and thus I couldn't break that contract by helping you to escape, or my reputation as a mercenary would be in tatters. Get out of here on your own, or don't get out at all. But I won't obstruct you, as I have more important things to worry about. So as long as you can get around Mr. Fixx back there, you should be scott free, hmm?"

"Well, perhaps I'll be seeing you around, if you survive. Au revoir, mon enfant," he offered with a small nod, then surged past Rose down the hallway after Powers. And after the Bat.

Pew! went the laser pistol that Slade had drawn from his holster and fired in one smooth motion, aimed at the small of the new Bat's back, but angled in such a way that Powers himself wouldn't be hit if the quarry dodged. And Slade was very much expecting him to dodge, as he followed up with more laser-fire, relentless in his attack of the amateur cape, each time aiming for a crippling blow.

"Please, Mr. Powers, remember to call me Deathstroke while I'm on the job," he casually asked of the CEO as he did his work of pest extermination.

The Absolute State Of Wayne Manor

Things had happened quickly. One last attempt by the assailant to get a murder off while continuing to give absolutely terrible excuses, the old man managing to block it with that cane of his and then. Just. Other Cassie. Cassie-With-The-Spooky-Shadow-Powers. Just... Tore one of the assailants arms off. The assailant had duct-taped up the bleeding gap where the arm once was and then flung some blood around for some reason and ran off.

Cassie-with-a-couple-knives-and-not-much-else was left shocked silent, still holding the gun as she slowly backed away from the bloodstained scene hoping to hide in the shadow.

As Caution/Amity ran off, Bruce began to huff, his chest felt tight, he didn't push himself as much anymore, he could still handle a punk but- his chest. He began to double over, his heartbeat was irregular, he needed his medication.

He stumbled, trying to get to his medicine cabinet, Ace whined and scratched at the locked doors. "My. M-my medicine!" Bruce croaked out, trying to support himself as he felt his strength leaving his body. He wasn't going to die like this, not like this at all.

Terry, Terry still needed him. Too green, wouldn't make it on his own.

It grazed the Batsuit, and while Batman groaned it just burned. The suit was durable, it still stung just from the heat transfer. He turned his attention behind him, to see the old Mercenary. Deathstroke, there were legends about this guy, how was he still around? He had to be older than Wayne...

Terry flicked his wrist back and drew a batarang, before chucking it at Deathstroke. Deal with him as fast as possible. "Excuse me, I was in the middle of something."

Derek started to scramble, there were no other exits beyond the path that his hired muscle was currently in, and the presence of a bat shaped vigilante complicated that. There had to be something here, he looked to his left, and saw a canister of the nerve gas... that'd do. His mercenary might get hit however...

Powers deemed this acceptable, wouldn't have to pay him afterwards. He grabbed the tank and with what strength he had, chucked it at the two.

Vilmos began to laugh, turning to his guards and motioning for them to laugh with him. "We are not some backwards nation, we helped build the Space Station and the Mass Driver over 20 years ago. We can learn how to reverse engineer the nerve gas."

He snapped his fingers, and the guards opened fire.

Scarecrow - Gotham Harbor

"Have it your way."

Scarecrow figured he wasn't going to talk Vilmos and his men down. That's why he'd done his dramatic wing motions; to conceal his hands as he pulled out a fear gas grenade. Which he then kept hidden in the fist he was making to tap the canister.

So when Vilmos' guards opened fire, Scarecrow immediately tossed the grenade on the ground in front of Vilmos himself, and folded his wings to shield himself and the canister on the ground as he grabbed it and the grenade went off, a cloud of fear gas starting to grow and spread beneath Vilmos and towards the surrounding guards.

Edited by RapidFirestormer on Apr 22nd 2024 at 8:31:32 AM

Cassie || Wately Mayne Stanor || Ah.

Cassie takes slow, shocked steps, into the corner, away from the arm, blood pooling on the carpet. They didn't- that wasn't- they don't know -

Her thoughts scattered, Cassie keeps stepping back into the corner - if someone looked closely, they'd see that she was already disappearing, the back of her arms and shoulders vanishing into the shadows behind her.

Medically Emergenced Wayne Manor

As the other Cassie attempts to replicate this one's 'step back into the shadows' move, the sudden stumbling and shouting of the old man dragged her out again. Her motives were starting to get hazy at this point but like hell was she going to just let someone die even if it was someone she had written off for dead earlier in the evening. She darted from her shadow, leaving the other Cassie behind as she swung around to just kind of pry her knife into the hinge of the medicine cabinet to open it (she didn't have time to lockpick here!).

"Okay, which bottle is it!?"

Estate of Wayne's Manor-Amity

She stumbled out, the agony pulsing through her body, one eye hazy and dim. Losing her balance, Amity fell hard when she tried to catch herself with an arm that was still lying on Wayne's expensive rug. Getting up was even worse since she had almost regained her footing before she slipped on the blood and slammed down on the ragged wound. A small part of her mind was sure she'd felt the cold tile floor scraping against bone.

Somehow she was standing again, closer to the door. Behind her she could hear Wayne shouting something, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. If the police arrived she'd kill them too. The car. That was the goal. The car and the doctor. The car and the doctor and revenge. She'd burn this place down, and pour gasoline on Wayne and those two brats to start the blaze.

Now, fresh air. Down the lawn, Ignore the pain. Ignore the blood making your clothes stiff and wet. In the seat. Darkness.

Awake again. It's only been a few minutes. Then type in the destination. Corso. Then rest. Just for a moment. Rest.

More darkness. Like the shadows that ate her flesh.

Edited by Booky on Apr 29th 2024 at 3:55:05 AM

Harley, Hospital

"Whatevah'..."

Harley sat down, cradling her ribs. She wasn't sure what else to do. She reached for her wig, hand resting above her head. Laurie would've taken it off, but she wasn't Laurie was she?

Edited by kkhohoho on Apr 27th 2024 at 10:13:38 AM

Wayne-Powers, Labs

Due to the fact that the CEO was his protection target, Slade was keeping an eye on Powers out of the corner of his vision, and so he saw the thrown nerve gas canister coming from a mile away. Rather than dodging or catching it, however, he opted to shoot the thing with his laser pistol, which caused it to explode violently, the heated gas beginning to fill the room.

"Well, since you'd clearly rather be rid of me, I shall take my leave, Derek," he intoned venomously, shooting a couple more volatile-looking objects about the place as he quickly backpedaled out the door he'd come in by. "A pity I won't be getting paid, but it's not worth being backstabbed by the likes of you. Goodbye, young Bat. We'll meet again... if you survive."

Edited by darksidevoid on Apr 29th 2024 at 10:39:46 AM

"Reh-rehuh-red bottle!" Bruce pained out. "Labelled. Doctor Midnight."

He braced himself against a chair, trying to focus. "Grab. Two."

He blinked, and he saw it, the face... that face, the smile, the red eyes. He blinked again, looking down and seeing special plating, a bright red symbol, he could feel his heart giving out. Why had he built that infernal thing, the damage was so extensive nobody could fix it, it was more than just physical.

He blinked, his vision going blurry, he could see it... the figure, the dark black, the white soulless eyes, the red bat was on its chest. It carried that damned thing in its hand, it raised it at him. No... not this thing.

Bruce collapsed onto his knees, his own anxieties making it worse... the laughter was back. "I'm sorry..." he whispered.

Batman barely had time to react, before Deathstroke took the initiative, he looked back to see Derek Powers get engulfed in his own nerve gas. He rocketed away from that, Powers own weapon was his undoing. Deathstroke was already gone, but he couldn't let this nerve gas get out... flick of the wrist.

Powers collapsed over, looking down at his skin and seeing the necrotizing black spots, he began to panic, looking up to Batman. "Help... HELP ME!"

Batman, Terry, squinted, he considered it... he declined. Only to get checked to the side as Fixx ran in, burns covering his body. What was he made of? Batman watched as he grabbed Powers, before finally deciding to take the chance, he tossed the batarang.

It flew past, and exploded, setting off more of the barrels that Deathstroke had missed, and Terry rushed out. The lab would be coated, and somehow he knew... this wasn't over just yet.

Something approached Amity's car, the sound of sirens in the distance, it looked to her... and took its chance, pulling her out and carrying her off. She wouldn't die here, but it wasn't about to let her get caught either.

There was still much she could do, so much she could do.

Vilmos doubled over, the gas clearing, curling into a fetal position. Unharmed, alive, but seeing something no one would ever know or understand... the Kaznians had been handled, and for Scarecrow's troubles, the sound of Police Sirens. Somebody nearby had probably reported the screams of the group, and a cruiser was being sent over to investigate.

A crackle of static, as in Scarecrow's ear he would hear.

"Want to avoid the Cops? Fly to the old city, while you still can."'

Edited by EchoingSilence on Apr 30th 2024 at 9:21:48 AM

Scarecrow - The Air

Content to leave Vilmos and rest of the Kaznians too scared to go after him, Scarecrow simply flew away with the canisters. Even if he couldn't make the delivery, he'd at least be able to get some payment from Powers for keeping his product safe from those vigilantes that had raided the loading bays.

But then Scarecrow got a call. It wasn't from Powers, or that Fixx guy who did his dirty work. That concerned Scarecrow. But on the other hand, this mysterious voice was giving him info to avoid the police, and he wasn't about to get captured after the night he had. With his decision made, Scarecrow turned and flew towards the remains of old Gotham.

State of Emergency Wayne Manor

"Red bottle, labelled,—" the Nightingale parroted back as she rummaged through the bottles. "—Doctor M— Doctor Midnight? The— no, no not the time. Talk later, saving life now."

There was no room for quips in this situation, but with the provided information it took her only a few moments to find the bottle, struggle with the cap for a few turns before shaking out two pills and passing them off to the old man.

"I'm gonna get a glass of water... You want anything?"

Okay, room for one quip.

Bruce swiped the pills from Cassie's hands and swallowed them without issue, his body starting to relax. Breath deeply, let the pills work, his eyes started to focus, he could see. The... things were gone, he stood up slowly, seeing Ace trot over with a bottle of water. "Thanks boy."

He took a heavy drink, before looking back to the Cassies. "Hn... not the first time I've dealt with a metahuman," he remarked.

For being 67 years old and having a heart problem, he was in great shape... and he was more than aware of how things worked. Hn... this would be an issue.

"Tt... alright, one was bad enough, 2 would be an annoyance, but 3... and with how that one over there works I can't see myself stopping her. So..."

Ace tilted his head inquisitively at the Cassies.

"You have two options, learn the truth, and all the crushing weight that comes with it. Or turn around, leave, and live in blissful ignorance," he said, his voice having dropped to a different register. "I'd recommend the second."

As Scarecrow would enter the dilapidated streets, he would see what looked to be crowds of the downtrodden and the homeless, and on the roofs, what appeared to be men in holographic masks. They were tracking him, some even turning their attention to an old police precinct, long since abandoned by the Gotham PD.

"Good, you're nearly there. I prefer to meet potential contacts face to face, make things fair. We'll meet on the roof of the old Commissioner's building."

Batman flew out, flying low over the water before lifting into the air, police hovercars and even wheeled vans rolling in. He squinted, this wasn't over, not yet at least. "Wayne, can you hear me?"

No response. "Wayne? WAYNE?!"

This was bad, before he had presumed it was just the depths of the facility, but now he wasn't answering. Terry focused, Wayne Manor was on the other side of the city, and the rocket fuel would only last so long...

He was on his way, he'd hitchhike if he had to. He'd already lost his dad, he wasn't going to let someone else die.

Scarecrow - Old Gotham

Scarecrow surveyed the run down streets of Old Gotham, noticing all the people with masks on the rooftops. He still wasn't sure who this mysterious contact was. Court of Owls, perhaps? False Face Society? Or some other criminal group he hadn't heard of?

Eventually reaching the building that had once been run by the old Commissioner Gordon, Scarecrow touched down on the roof. He kept his free hand close ready to grab his scythe, just in case, as he awaited to see who the mysterious voice belonged to.

Cassie || Wayne Manor (No State) || An Unwilling Participant In The Adoption Olympics

Don't run.

Shut up.

She attacked you, you defended yourself. What are you so scared of?

Shut up.

If you're too frozen to do anything, I could always take the burden -

No.

The arm in front of them keeps bleeding, but - Cassie steps out from the wall. Pushing against the voice in her head is instinctive, now, defiance her default after so long. And it's enough to break her out of her horrified reverie, enough to let them actually listen to the old man. Who is -

A millionaire? Keeping secrets? What a surprise.

"Are you always this cryptic, old man, or did you have to work at it?" Cassie says, stepping over the arm - and its easy to slide on the unconcerned face, pretend like everything is fine. "Blissful ignorance has never been my thing." Plus - if this truth will hurt people, they need to know. And it's the secret of a millionaire, so of course it'll hurt people.

Just Like Old Times, Eh?

A chuckle rumbles out from behind the Nightingale's bandanna as the Other Cassie decides to stick around. This was going to be an interesting confrontation, maybe even an interesting night if the pieces clicking together in her head were concluding in the right direction...

"And I think I know what it is. Should I show my work like a maths problem, Mister Wayne?"

On the roof, Scarecrow would meet a man in an old duster coat, bandages wrapped around his face, a smile came across as he began to speak, his tone harsh, as if his vocal chords had been sanded. "Welcome, didn't think you'd make it."

He dug into his pocket, potentially reaching for a gun, only to pull out a coin and start flipping it. He flipped it a few times, before catching it, and checking. The smile vanished and his tone became much clearer. "So, care to join the criminal underworld in this new era of Gotham?"

"Well, if you aren't leaving. I won't be responsible for anything that happens next," Bruce said, placing his hands on his cane.

There was the sound of opening windows, and a flurry of bats flew out, surrounding Bruce and flying through the empty halls of the manor, he didn't react, he stood still and let it happen. Before landing before the Cassies was a dark figure, the suit he wore made him look like a walking shadow.

"You okay Wayne?" Batman asked.

"Fine, Terrence, now that you brought my suit back," Bruce responded.

Batman, Terry, blinked and looked back. "Excuse me?"

"One of them is a teleporter, never had the chance to armor up the batcave against those, doubt we could stop her from getting in. Plus they defended me from an assassin."

Terry grunted a bit. "Probably sent by Powers. With you out of the way he'd be able to make any major decisions for the company without interference."

Bruce grinned a bit, it seemed... wrong, like his face wasn't meant to smile. "We'll discuss the taking of the Beyond suit later... for now."

Batman turned back to the Cassies, flicking a wrist and gripping a batarang. Implicitly daring the two to try something against him or Bruce.

Scarecrow - Old Gotham

"Pal, if you know who I am, you know I'm already a member of that particular group," Scarecrow responded. "But I figure if you made the effort to reach out to me, that means you have a specific job in mind for me."

Though there'd be no way to see it, Scarecrow's expression changed into a sinister smile. "So go on. I'm listening."

Elaborating Wayne Manor

"Aaaaaaaand that confirms the theory" the Nightingale quipped as first a flurry of highly dramatic bats and then the Batman himself entered the scene. "Hi Bat-Terrence, I'm the one that isn't a teleporter and despite the knives I'm not the assassin, the assassin's the one who lost—" she gestures at the dropped arm "—that. We're probably gonna need a mop."

She shrugs and puts her gesturing knife away.

"I really, really want to be clever and show the working but well. The Batman's here, on first name basis with Mister Wayne and clearly too young to have been doing the job for twenty years ending twenty years ago. Dots easier to connect than a by-the-numbers innit?"