2012-08-13 Late Night Rumble

New York in the wee hours of the morning. As in stupid late, so late it's early. Of course, the night is quiet... well as quiet as New York ever gets. Which means traffic, honking horns, occasional gunfire, but tonight it's all different. The night is rocked by an explosion. It's not just an explosion so much as an eruption that appears to have caved in the side of a building. Why go through the heavily armored door when the walls aren't as thick after all?
"I told you to use just enough to get through the wall! You tried to blow up the whole neighborhood!" says a commanding voice... 
"Hey, we're in, aren't we?" asks another voice, female. Then the sound of metal scraping that could only be a blade being drawn. Lastly, a deep chuckle and crunches of feet crushing materials that aren't normally crushed underfoot.
It's so late it's stupid to be out - Ali should have KNOWN better than to let Elisabeth talk her onto the ferry for partying, now she's TRAPPED over here (though it's New York, so all is not lost just in that sense) until the first ferry of the actual morning can take her back to Gotham.
Explosions don't go unnoticed anywhere. Alison is of course /aware/ that New York tends to be filled with heroes... but most of them are pretty much the daylight types. Not that she blames them. "Let it go, Ali, just let the locals handle it... oh, forget it. What ELSE is there to do until 6?" So convinced, she starts moving in the direction of the noise. Not /quickly/, mind.
Now, Karen Starr was a woman who appreciated the value of a good night's sleep. If you wanted to rob a bank at 2AM? You do that. There's /plenty/ of grimdark superheroes who will take your little butt to the cleaners, and who also really dig the whole night business; but POWER GIRL was not one of them. So at this moment, Karen was sleeping, as she always was, in her little New York city apartment, soundproofing on her windows and doors that she added in after the fact. 
 
Which really didn't help so much, in the long run. But still, an /explosion/ rocks the city of New York!
 
And Karen Starr answers with a little murmur, a blink of her eyes, and another snore. The Cat that lived with her, however, answers with a yowl, shrieking and hissing as it leaps from her bed unto the side table, knocking her clock over to crash against the floor. And Karen Starr bolts upwards in bed, her blue eyes widening as what she just heard catches up to her brain. "Oh, /dam-" 
 
One minute later...
 
POWER GIRL, dressed in her white top with her red cape, (and blue boots and gloves,) flies overhead kinda-sorta where she heard the explosion, her super-senses keen and trained in for anything weird. Yeah, she was probably arriving a little after Dazzler, but she could move fast when she wanted to.
Dazzler is able to semi-sneak up on what appears to be... well it's not a bank robbery, unless the bank in question is listed as Snake's Pool Hall. Behind the hall, the wall is blown wide open and there are hints of bodies inside. Apparently, the explosion took care of security inside. Standing in the hole is... well, the light from inside silhouettes a large man. Now, when I say large, I'm not really exaggerating. This guy is at least eight feet tall, and his muscles have muscles. Movement can be noticed behind the guy, who's standing with his back to the guys inside. Apparently, the big guy with his arms folded over his chest is on 'lookout' duty. From inside, certain Kryptonian ears can hear, "Okay, whatever you do, only take the stones, not the cash. We were hired to be surgical... look who I'm talking to, little miss blow -everything- up."
And the female's voice laughs, and after the sound of metal scraping through metal is heard, hands start gathering up clinking crystaline structures.
Well. At least with an explosion that large and this late at night, it shouldn't take much time for the police to at least be called. So... yeah. Dazzler does NOT immediately leap to action. She DOES, however, start absorbing snatches of sound more actively now, grabbing at the waves as they come closer to her but not reaching out for their actual sources. Yet. One of these days she'll figure out how to gauge just how much of a charge she's actually holding onto - but for now, better safe than sorry.
POWER GIRL was also not too really keen on the sneaking thing, generally. She just wasn't built too much for it. And really, in spite of super-speed aided costuming, she still looked like she had just woken up in the middle of the night, well, one minute ago. Blonde hair a bit mussy, (and a sprig sticking up and to the back a bit), dark circles under her eyes, that slightly vacant expression... when she spies...! 
 
"Hey!" says POWER GIRL, in a hissing whisper, the Kryptonian kinda falling from the sky to hover near Dazzler, "/Hey/, it's you! How come you're always showing up when there's trouble?!" she says, her voice still kinda low. Karen quirks her head to the side, though, a little smile twitching up the corners of her lips. "Sounds like there's just two - a couple of robbers, by the sound of it. You wanna take 'em out together or something?"
Well, something Dazzler might be glad for, there are sounds approaching. Police sirens. Really really loud sirens as a police cruiser fishtails around the corner and heads down the alley. The driver never sees into the hole until it's too late, and the flashing red lights give you both your first glance at the face of the 'lookout'. Certain ears hear over the sound of the sirens, "Aftermath, go..." What a name... Aftermath. But the big guy steps out of the hole, right into the path of the police car where he brings one meaty fist down onto the hood, crushing the engine block. The other hand reaches down under the car and he lifts it with what is obviously the intent of throwing it ... a good long way. "Well, now I'm our only way out of here..." says the commanding voice, "So, you'd better behave you psychotic little..." and the woman almost growls. "I'm behavin' you overbearing ass!" she replies.
"Just lucky I guess," Ali responds dryly, especially considering the hour. "It's nice to see you, too." Smile. "A Team-Up? Sounds divine--" as do the police sirens. Because, well, yes please! Aaaaaannd it looks like the bad guys are starting to formulate a plan of their own while she and P.G. get re-acquainted. She holds up a finger to her bud, "Look away a sec," is all the warning she gives.
Because then she starts to literally sparkle, tiny multicolored diamonds of light around her while Ali points that finger at the giant mountain of a man. "HEY!" she shouts, right before she sets off a series of blinding flashes in his immediate vicinity.
POWER GIRL's blue eyes widen when she sees the appearance of the big guy - especially when he smashes that cop car. You know, there was a time for jokes and catching up - but these weren't a couple of dime store robbers, now that she gets a look at them. And Karen's eyes narrow down on it. "You know, we'll catch up later!" she says, voice grim, and already taking off again - straight towards Aftermath. Right before he explodes into all sorts of light, POWER GIRL's forward pace slowing a bit as she brings up a hand to shield her eyes. "Oh, right!" she murmurs to herself. "She's all bright." 
 
Looking not at him, but at the car, POWER GIRL picks up her pace again - to try to steal that cop car from the man's hands as she flies by. (And if she just so happens to accidentally kick her foot into the side of his head as she flies by, that's aces.)
Well, if Power Girl struck the guy full force, it might be different, but just accidentally bumping her foot into him feels like stubbing her toe, but only mildly. Fortunately for the two cops, they had their seat belts on, and even more fortunately, the car is in Power Girl's hands, not Aftermath's. Now, Aftermath is suddenly unable to see and he's growling and yowling. Well... and flailing his arms about. This means that he literally.... almost by a casual gesture, puts the hands through one of the walls on the other side of the alleyway, and then topples into the room there. Not very graceful when he's blind, that's for sure.
"I'm guessing we have company." mutters the woman who turns and heads into the hole in the wall, a crouched almost animalistic appearance to her silhouette. Remeniscent of Wonder Woman's enemy, cheetah, but this one is all black fur with yellow eyes, and a tail that's twitching in anticipation. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" calls the female cat thingee. The guy inside just picks up whatever it is he's there for and waits....
One blinded (and clearly more of a Power Girl problem than one SHE should be dealing with directly ANYWAY), Dazzler steps forward to answer 'the call' - "If you using a playful kid's game thing to call me out is supposed to be intimidating or clever, you should probably spring for an updated version of your badguy handbook," she responds. She doesn't look particularly impressive in jeans and a self-referential tee from her performance at last year's Stark Expo, but hey - here she is.
And POWER GIRL moves to set the cop car down a little ways down the street, taking a moment to glance inside, and give the officers a dazzling grin. "Everything okay, officers?" Karen asks them, with a wink of one eye. She was trying not to look too worried, although she was. Some of the more observant officers might notice that her smile was a little forced, and she had a tear at the corner of one eye. 
 
But POWER GIRL rises with a wave, turning around to kinda observe the fight. There was that black-furred woman, but she makes that same assement. That big guy looked like a job for POWER GIRL. "Here we go..." she says, mostly to herself That was as she starts to dip forward, to land lightly outside of the bookstore. What she does next would be dependant on his state when she looks inside the bookstore. If he's on his back, aces - she would try to drag him out by the foot. Otherwise, a quick punch might be in order.
The moment Dazzler starts to move, it's like the kitty girl wants to catch -her- monologuing. The movement gets those yellow eyes flickering right that way. "Maneater... go." says the commander's voice from inside. He must've recognized that instant head turn as noticing a target. 'Maneater' leaps into the air and she's a silent pounce heading right for Dazzler. However, she doesn't leap the whole distance in a single bound. She lands almost soundlessly and leaps again, gleaming claws before her.... a roaring battlecry sounding like ripping paper echoing in a way that can likely be heard almost a mile away. Big cats... are loud when they roar.
 
For Power Girl, she finds Aftermath on his back in the bookstore across the alley from the target building. He's flailing about as he is about to work his way to his feet. Bookshelves and books are flying about in there due to his flailing, and then a Kryptonian hand locks onto his foot and his first reflex is to give a casual jerk of the foot to free it. That doesn't work, and he seems surprised. His vision is starting to clear and he sees the silhouette of... "Pretty...." says his ultra deep voice. He doesn't sound like he's the brightest bulb on the tree. But his other leg curls back and lashes out with a vicious kick. He may not be as strong as Power Girl, but that kick would cave in an M1 Tank's front armor....
Dazzler, scared? She was a Herald of Galactus! ... Okay, she's a little scared. But she's also still got a pointing finger, and a bit of natural acrobatic and gymnastic skill of her own. As soon as Maneater (seriously? All the good names ARE taken!) touches down on that first leap and moves into the second proper pounce, Dazzler leaps to the side and rolls, firing off a couple of solid photon blasts to try and catch the cat. ZARK! ZARK!
Okay. POWER GIRL's eyes widen as that foot lashes out towards her, and it does knock her for a loop. Probably just not as much of a loop as he was expecting. The foot slaps against her, and Karen's hands are pulled free of that foot. POWER GIRL is knocked across the street, and back into the police car again. Bringing up a hand to rub her head, which has the effect of smoothing out that wayward sprig, POWER GIRL gets back up again. 
 
If the cops were still in the car, she'd give a slightly embarrassed wave, before lifting herself up, and getting a little bit of air to survey the situation. What was Aftermath doing? If he was out in the street at all, she'd try to dive at him, fists forward, to knock him on his butt again.
One thing about cats that is amazing, is their ability to seemingly change direction in mid leap from time to time. As Dazzler does her sideways dive, Maneater does her best to reach the woman, and even as those photon blasts strike her squarely, her speed and animalistic nature almost bely her other abilities. One thing that is true though is the cat thing ends up blasted into the wall and she falls to the ground. True to form though, she lands on her feet. Then she locks those yellow eyes on Dazzler, almost grinning as she lifts one hand... paw... whatever, and licks a bit of blood from one claw. Sure enough, there's a single cut on one of Dazzler's arms where the creature got too close! Sure, it's just a surface flesh wound but... wow, that cat thing is fast. Then she chuckles before surging into sudden movement again, this time running right for Dazzler.
 
The cops were indeed in the car, but as Power Girl flies up, they wave and then she can hear their alarmed voices as they get out of the car. Aftermath was running towards where Power Girl landed, but as she took off, his head tracked her movement upwards. The problem is, his brain didn't quite think to send signals to his feet to stop, and he runs right into the police cruiser. One foot flattens the battery, and the sirens stop all of a sudden. The next foot caves the top in, and then he stops there as he looks down and rips his first foot out of the engine where it was partially stuck. But, he makes a perfect target for a Power Girl torpedo. She heads his way, and his head comes up just in time to see those fists and... he grins just before she hits and says, "oh, boooooobies." and then he's flying back and slams into the street, skidding to a stop thirty feet later as he shakes his head. He's not out, but he's on one knee, clearly on the ropes.
"Son of a--" Dazzler skips backwards once she notices she's been 'tagged' -- and now the she-cat's /running/ for her again? "Oh, hell with THIS," Ali mutters to herself, then shouts "EAT IT!" Standing her ground, she pours out a full-body wave of blinding, sparkling, colorful light, putting as much disorienting flash and strobe into it as she can muster.
One of the things that Karen Starr was not, was Superman. Where the Man of Steel might give his opponent the chance to recover, and kinda get back into things, Karen was not going to give the big man the same chance. Gritting her teeth together, as it seems her opponent was stunned, POWER GIRL's cape had flipped unto her front - something she ignores as she crosses the distance between herself and the (hopefully!) still-stunned Aftermath, one of her fists rocketing up to try to catch him underneath the jaw, her teeth gritting.
Well, ever see someone just vanish into light? Well now you have. Maneater yowls, but pushes forward through the full spectrum blast of Dazzler. A second later.. she's still coming! Not as fast, but she's not stopping! The -only- thing that Maneater is able to do however, is follow her nose. She doesn't really need her eyes so much as her nose and ears. When all is said and done, Dazzler may be worried, but she may not be. She was a Herald of Galactus after all! But Maneater's paw/hand comes out of that continuous flow of power and grabs onto Dazzler's wrist, claws almost digging in... before the kittycat collapses and her claws simply scrape a couple welts down the wrist and hand of the superstar.
 
Aftermath is indeed stunned, and all he can do is turn his head towards Power Girl and mutter, "Your cape..." and he's struck again. It's like hitting a piece of iron and this time when she hits, he tries to lean into it. The punch unleashes a shockwave that might make Dazzler feel it in her inner ear. Aftermath is standing after it hits, his eyes vacant.... and then just when Power Girl might be wondering how much more she has to do.... he falls backwards and slams into the ground... unconscious. Wait, weren't there three of them?
Feel? Absolutely - but the Shockwave otherwise makes a great recharge, which Dazzler needs once she can drop the amped up Dazzle-Burst when Maneater hits the ground. Rubbing her wrist, Ali steps OVER the fallen bad-guy and moves towards the building where it all started - one hand resting in the palm of the other, her finger pointed like a gun. Just in case.
That shockwave makes Karen's teeth shiver, and POWER GIRL takes a step away after landing the punch on that big guy, shaking out her hands a bit. "Oof," she murmurs to herself, her eyes widening as she sees him still standing. "For the love of...!" she complains, bringing up her fists again - when she notices the eyes, and when he starts to topple forward. A moment, and she moves to flip her cape back over her shoulder, and gives the fallen guy a dazzling grin. "Thanks," she says, glancing back towards the cops - mostly to see if they were okay. 
 
Not that she really could do much if they weren't but, eh. Dazzler might sense POWER GIRL alighting next to her, tugging her gloves tighter as she starts to step, side by side, next to the superstar, her own eyes - and senses, keen towards anything /weird/ in the environment. "So I was wrong, there were three of 'em," she says, her tone vaguely apologetic. "Still, it seems catwoman didn't slow you down too much."
Inside that hole, there's a man clad simply. It's an all black bodysuit. Very creative eh? However, he himself is silhouetted by the glow of the blade in his hand. It's a shining sword that looks as if the noonday sun is glaring down upon it, even in the dead of night. He simply tosses a couple stones through the air, green crystals sailing towards the two of you, "A gift." he says before he crouches down, stabbing his sword into the floor. Reality seems to flicker for a moment before he, the blade, and even the cut from where he stabbed it... are gone. Nothing left but those glittering green stones... *gasp!* Kryptonite?!?!... nope, just a couple emeralds.
"She got a couple of good scratches in," Dazzler starts to say, until the dude in black totally interrupts and tosses stolen property at them. He's gone, she makes no move to catch them... and Alison is annoyed. "Well, at least there's two of them for the cops. ... Do you live far from here?" Uh oh.
Once that man in the black bodysuit appears, POWER GIRL takes a step forward from Dazzler's side, jaw clenched, her fists tightening in blue gloves... when the dude strikes the ground with a flash of light. Naw, it wasn't kryptonite. She could tell that pretty quick - normally, Kryptonite gives her a really woozy feeling just looking at it. This? Not so much. With a heady sigh, POWER GIRL brings up her hand to massage her temples, turning back towards Alison. 
 
"That big guy hit harder than I've been hit in a long, long time," says Karen, although she tosses her hair, and blinks twice. Secret identity much? Although, she supposed, Alison seemed like aces in her book. "Well, uh. I have an apartment, right up the street?" she says, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "Do you need those scratches looked at? I have, um." Not a whole lot. She didn't have much call for bandaids often. "I think I have a first aid kit in there."
"I'm stranded overnight, can I crash on your couch?" Alison asks, unabashedly. "Or bum a ride back to Gotham City? Though I think Commissioner Gordon would have a heart attack if he caught wind of me being flown back in by a superhero when I'm supposed to be keeping a 'low profile.'" She scrunches up her face and adds, in whispered harshness, "GOD I hate that term."
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