Thread: The Caged Bird (vertigis + Vandesdelca)

Carries head swung swiftly in the direction the voice had come from, lithe young body falling back into a fighting stance. She hadnt heard his silent approach and somehow hed managed to enter from her blind spot, both eerily reminiscent of her mentors own infamously wraithlike entrances. He was even swathed in dark clothing and a mask similar to the Batman only there were orange highlights instead of blue breaking the pattern, and his voice was thicker, heavy and masculine. This was bad she knew without needing to understand what exactly had happened here, the hard weight in her stomach growing heavier, the confidence of his stride already shaking her own. She had just taken out six men and he looked almost eager to face her in combat. Sure, I can take you to meet him, Carrie replied breezily, putting forth the fearlessness Bruce had always taught to her show in front of her enemies. Would you prefer a stretcher or wheelchair? As she spoke the aerosol can came whirling at his head, merely a feint to disguise her actual attack, a line of R-shurikens sent hurtling at his legs. It was fast and it was good, and yet the scene seemed to move in slow motion as the saw his hand draw the sword in the very same motion that ducked her throw, the blade moving with impossible swiftness as it knocked her projectiles out of the air. No time to simply stop and stare gape mouthed. Carrie darted forward before he could recover, coming at him with a flurry of hard blows with the flat palm of her hand. The first two struck him hard in the chest, producing a satisfying oof beneath the his face plate. The rest were absorbed on his forearms as he blocked on after the other, finally spinning backwards and bringing his sword down towards her head. Carrie caught it between her thick green gloves, clapping the blade between her small hands, the steel almost seeming vibrate. Sweat was beading on her forehead above her glasses and a little voice in her head said hed pulled it at the last moment. That it been too fast for her to catch if he hadnt have let her do so. That distracting thought was enough to give him an opening, hard blow striking her in the stomach, painful enough she wanted to cry out but gritted her teeth instead. It was now her turn to go on the defensive. His size advantage and strength was massive compared to her own though. Carrie barely broke five inches over five foot and the man was almost a foot taller. Even blocking she felt the blows vibrate up her arms and back, sapping her remaining energy. She was already tired from her earlier fight, bruised and weakened, and this battle was rapidly depleting her remaining reserves. Suddenly one of his blows ended with him grasping her wrist and an electric shock sizzled up her arm and down her spine. This time she did shriek, falling do her knees, where a hard kick to her chest sent her sprawling onto her back in a tangle of yellow cape and bright red hair. Carrie was gasping for air now, legs uncooperative after the powerful taser just unleashed, and infuriatingly she thought she felt tears forming in her eyes. She was losing. She was failing him. She was failing herself. Reaching for her belt, Carrie fumbled for more of her flash bombs, knowing her only chance was making an escape while she still could.