2014.03.18 - Stolen Lives

The Adams Building was once amongst the grandest buildings in Gotham during the industrial boom of the nineteenth century. Once a gothic structure replete with gargoyles that towered over the others around it, it now squats neglected between a pair of rundown tenements. What parts of the old stonework that haven't fallen away are covered in graffiti and most of the windows have been boarded up, the glass long ago shattered.
But lately the Adams Building has shrugged off the grandeur of bygone era and taken on a much more sinister purpose. According to the intel from Oracle, this is the 'running spot' for a syndicate that seems to be kidnapping metahumans. Bringing them here before shipping them off to who-knows-where.
In an old, burned out room of an abandoned public housing block across the road crouches Red Robin. A pair of binoculars have been set up on a tripod in the window and a streamlined laptop sits open on his lap. His gloved fingers dart across the keyboard, typing swiftly as he occasionally shifts to look through the binoculars at the Adams Building across the way.
Come quickly and come quietly, his message had read. Vorpal had messaged the heroes he could contact at the moment-Axiom and Iron Spider (though, honestly, he didn't really need to message him). Spoiler, he had sent a message through the Spoiler Alert.
There is a decrepit building across the way from the Adams Building. It is not as good a place as Robin's, but it's the best place Vorpal can pinpoint as a quiet rendez-vous place, inside the dilapidated greenhouse on the rooftop.
He hoped Iron Spider would have no trouble finding the building and bring Axiom with him. Spoiler? Well, she had a knack to turn up anywhere. He was counting on that.
Crouching low among semi-destroyed pots, he looks across the buildings. Oracle had said there might be someone there if she could get the message across quickly enough. Vorpal hoped so.
 
The Spoiler Alert. Spoiler gave Jim Gordon a flashlight with a purple 'S' taped across the lens several months ago, and was never surprised that she never saw it flashed across the night sky. Gotham City has Batman. Why does it need the likes of Spoiler? And while she's never been surprised by it, she's always been a little disheartened.
So when she sees that vibrant S shining against the Gotham smog tonight she is shocked. And delighted. Stephanie Brown slips from her bedroom window, wheels her bike from the garage and half a block away so that her probably sleeping crime boss father won't hear the less than properly oiled chain squeaking, and then takes off toward Old Gotham. When she's a few blocks from the source of the light she hides her bike beneath a dumpster, changes into her aubergine garb, and then mounts a fire escape to trip across the rooftops and find the Commissi...
"Oh," she says as she comes upon Vorpal and the broken pots. Not Commissioner Gordon. She supposes that's not a surprise. She tries not to be too disappointed as she slips into the broken greenhouse. "Busy week for us," she observes.
Thanks to a tip from the mysterious Oracle the Adams Building has an extra gargoyle tonight. Not that the person sitting on an empty ledge doing his best impression of a stone monster could in reality be considered a grotesquery ment to frighten off evil spirits. Trading in his normal bright crimson for a greyish black and the gold highlights for purple the Iron Spider has taken up a position where he can watch anything comming in towards the building with very little chance of being spotted while at the same time getting a signal from several planted surveillance devices.
Making sure that everything is set up that he can keep an eye out on the suspect building the Iron Spider takes a quick springboard like leap from his perch and activates the stealth options on his armor disapearing compleatly as flaps unfold beneight his arms and let him glide to the area where Vorpal is waiting. Finding him and one other person already waiting the cloned super soldier finds a place to land quietly before saying anything.
"Busy week for everyone." The voice comes out of the darkness where, for anyone that does not have some form of super senses, there appears to be nothign at all. That is until the dark suited Iron Spider appears. "The other you wished contacted is on the way Vorpal....although I have reservations despite his track record."
Getting random phone messages from guys you haven't seen in months is a little weird but Axiom's just rolling with it. Already in Gotham since he was planning on buying something for Fox from a bakery in the city, Axiom swung by the Foxden to store some things and is now jumping rooftops on the way to the place the call said to meet. Last to arrive, he tumbles, falls, and rolls back to his feet when he reaches the rooftop. Dusting himself off and hoping no one saw that, he blinks when he sees more than just Iron Spider waiting. "I um...h-hi."
Red Robin furrows his brow beneath his cowl as one of his proximity alarms is suddenly triggered. Spotting no unusual activity across the way at the Adams Building, he clicks open a window on his laptop and brings up the feed for several miniscule cameras broadcasting live feeds from throughout the area.
In an alleyway across the street a homeless man is relieving himself. A pair particularly intrepid raccoons fight over half a subway sandwich on the opposite side. He flicks through the feeds swiftly until he finally spots something unusual. The small gathering taking place next door is watched for a moment and the microphone switched on for an audio feed.
Almost casually he runs them through the Bat-Computer's database. A few hits. Those that don't show up are put aside for later. The report'll come after. There's business to deal with right now.
Putting the laptop aside, the former Robin rises to his feet and climbs up onto the window sill where his binoculars are resting. He drops out silently, flaring his cape behind him to slow his descent he comes to a stop in a shadowy spot not quite reached by the yellow streetlights not far from the heroic gathering.
"Hi."
"He'll be fine, Iron, just make sure he---" and then Spoiler and Axiom arrive. Well, Spoiler arrives, Axiom stumbles in- cat ears hear everything.
"Well, busy as it can get. Thanks for making it, Spoiler, Axiom... I got a hit from Oracle earlier today and there's something big going on," he whispers "Big enough to threaten metas. Now, Oracle said there might be someone here already---"
His ears twitch as the greeting is spoken and he turns around, cat eyes seeing into the darkness. "Nevermind... he's here."
"Robin, is it? You look different." Word of the moniker change hasn't reached the cat- he hasn't seen Nightwing in a bit, and he has been caught up with the disaster of Apokolips, Booster and Tony. "It's good to see you... provided you don't have any unplanned explosions." He gives him a cheshire grin. The one and only time they had met before this had involved Nightwing getting shot and Robin exploding his motorcycle for a distraction. It had left Vorpal temporarily deafened and blinded due to his acute senses, but he didn't hold a grudge against the ex Boy Wonder... how could he know?
Spoiler has not had the opportunity to meet the Iron Spider or Axiom before, but she waves at them all the same -- hey, Vorpal invited her along, so she totally feels like she belongs in this crowd. And after meeting Superboy yesterday, she sort of feels like her week just couldn't get any more intense in the meeting people department.
Then a greeting issues from the shadows, and she feels like she jumps a mile as she spins to face the newcomer. Under her mask she blanches. Is this the part where she's told to stop fighting crime in Gotham? She's been expecting that all along.
Swallowing hard, she raises one gloved hand and wiggles her fingers in silent greeting. She's not sure she could speak if she tried.
Iron Spider cants his head a little just before Robin makes his landing watching him before nodding at him. A nod in greeting is given to each of the others as well before Vorpal starts. "Part of a string of metahuman disapearances. Which is an oddly reccuring problem over the last several years.We have very little in hard information or evidence at the moment, but I have most of the area already bugged and feeding through my HUD."
Axiom jumps when that voice comes from the shadows, turning quickly and almost stumbling. When he sees who it is though, Axiom perks up. The last time he saw Red Robin, he was Robin and the two of them were saving Heather from crazy meta-models. Of course that was a long while ago and before Axiom had a 'real' costume. "Umm...he's Red Robin n-now," he chimes to Vorpal. Fanboy. Knowing this sort of thing is kind of what he does. He falls silent as Vorpal and Iron Spider start explaining. "Okay umm...wh-what's our plan then?" he asks a little awkwardly.
"Red Robin," the cowled vigilante corrects, nodding in agreement with Axiom, "And no unplanned explosions, no."
He looks at Spoiler, returning her wave with a nod of his head. Much of the way he holds himself and the grim line of his mouth suggests that they have a lot to talk about. But now isn't the time and he says nothing to indicate when that might be.
"I've been watching the building for the last three hours," he explains, "I've got IDs on some of the men inside. Hired muscle, mostly. Nothing spectacular. But a few others I can't identify. Big and nasty types. I figure they're the bruisers."
Iron Spider's point about bugging the area causes him to bristle slightly. That's something he should have picked up and didn't. He makes a mental note of it for later.
"Red Robin. Got it." Vorpal tries to suppress the growl in his stomach that that name brings up. Hey, don't blame him- he had skipped dinner for this.
He's not a typical cat in many ways, and one of them is his approach to authority. Of all of them, he had to be honest, Red Robin had the most experience. Patrick was probably second, and the rest of them were young and more or less inexperienced, but growing less green. He looks at the grim line that is Red Robin's mouth and he taps his shoulder, grinning at him. "Well, it sounds like they've got a good amount of muscle in there, and some are strong enough to even deal with tough guys. This will require finesse and a strategic mind. And, as Wonder Woman told me, I don't have that yet. Would you accept the mantle of leadership for this mission, Red Robin?"
Spoiler swallows hard once more. Yeah, maybe she should leave now, hitchhike to Akron and hide out for the next sixty years. But that'd leave her dad... not unchecked, but not watched as closely, anyway. So she nods to Red Robin in return, and pushes that dry-throated, mute feeling aside. She's got this.
Staying quiet, Axiom listens. He's fine with letting Red Robin lead. Especially since finesse and strategic thinking aren't things he thinks he has. Stretching a bit, he waits for orders and glances around at the assembled group.
Iron Spider is using technology that Tony Stark will, make that would have, likely created in another 5 years had he lived. That they were missed is not something to be too upset given that, although if he ever finds this out from Red Robin Iron Spider might have to fight not to be a little smug. "Infiltration and information gathering are more my expertise than strategy and group tactics. Vorpal says you are a good choice to set up a battle plan I will trust that."
"If you're all okay with that," Red Robin answers, looking from face to mask to helmet and nodding his head, "Alright. Let's do this."
"Iron Spider," he begins, "I'm not familiar with your skillset but I'm assuming stealth is a big part of it. You should be on point. Take this. If whatever technology you're sporting in that suit comes from Earth then it should patch your communications through to the rest of us. We don't need to be shouting."
He reaches into his belt, producing a small metallic disc which he holds out for Iron Spider. Vorpal, Spoiler and Axiom get what looks to be a small earbud - a radio system for them all.
"Vorpal, your illusions will be a distraction. We'll lure whatever guards they're willing to spare out into the street and neutralize them here. Axiom, I'll trust your judgement on who to boost and when. Iron Spider, once the distraction is on you slip past and get the lay of the land. I've got the blueprints filed with the city planning office but nobody has been inside this place in years. There's no telling what's changed."
 
Vorpal cracks his knuckles and nods, "Sounds good to me, I'll go for the subtle illusions this time around. No need to attract everybody."
After all, he had sort of gone over the top with the Kingpin's henchmen.
Not that he knew that they were his henchmen. The Kingpin had been good at covering his tracks.
Spoiler pulls her mask out of the way on one side so she can press the ear bud into place, briefly revealing a few locks of blonde hair, before she tugs it back where it's supposed to be, covering even this much of her skin once more. But she can't help but notice that she's not been given an assignment. She hesitates a moment, then asks, "What about me? Where do you want me?"
Iron Spider takes the disk from Red Robin and nods as he has the suit absorb it and take the information to patch into the communicaitons networks that Red Robin is using. "It is from an Earth at least. Stealth, most of what Spiderman can do as well as Captain America and Iron Man without his replusars." He decides to confirm for Red Robin his skill and ability set so he can plan to use him to his most. At his assignment he nods and he still does not have the trick that Deadpool and Spider Man seem to have with making the cloth masks smile but he does do something close to approaching that. "It is almost like home, all we need now are the Vultures or an alien invasion."
Axiom blinks then smiles when handed the earbud. He puts it carefully into his ear, familiar with bat-coms. He'd used one before when teaming up with Batman and the current Robin. "G-got it," he chimes to Red Robin. Taking his staff off his belt, he keeps it collapsed as he waits for the signal to get into action.
"Spoiler, you're with me," Red Robin answers, "Follow my lead. Don't bite off more than you can chew and if you're in trouble let me know."
It's something of a backhanded compliment. On the one hand he sees her as capable of handling whatever fight is to come, on the other he doesn't want her straying too far away.
"Good," he says to Iron Spider, "That'll be useful."
Red Robin lifts a hand to gesture for those around him to get into position. He stations himself by the door, producing a bo-staff of his own from his belt and holding it parallel to his body. He nods his head to Spoiler then the other side of the door, gesturing for her to stand there.
His voice crackles through the comms: "On my mark, Vorpal."
A pause.
"Mark."
"Roger."
~Okay, Vorpie, DON'T screw this up~
~I won't. What could possibly go wrong?~
~You could alert everybody to our presence. And then Red Robin will tell Batman you're a total todger.~
~Thanks for the vote of confidence...~
The cat opens the door and immediately becomes invisible, slipping into the area and his eyes going into overtime to see in the dark. When he finds guards, he conjures up a shadowy figure- a small, harmless-looking person of indistinct features, as they are hidden in shadows, moving away from them--- calculating the movement of the illusions to lure them towards the door.
This is pretty much okay with Spoiler. She's made long strides since the day she met Vorpal, falling off a lamppost and on top of a trio of criminals at the Gotham docks. Yesterday she took out a giant guy with a rocket launcher (or something equivalently bad-ass) on a ship just off Arkham Island. Now she's teaming up with Robin.
Dear Diary,
I'm going up in the world. Red Robin wants to keep me where I won't get into trouble. Here's hoping he doesn't tell me to stick to my day job when this is done.
She is alert, aside from the mental diary, and when Red Robin pulls out his bo, she pulls out her escrima sticks (or what she calls escrima sticks, anyway), and takes her place where he's indicated, opposite him, black-painted broomstick halves at the ready.
Iron Spider nods and moves to disappear into the night, passing by Vorpal on the way so that his hand can gently touch the feline hero's shoulder in a reassuring gesture before vanishing form sight again. The stealth mode on his suit is one of his favorite parts, really it is. Once invisible he goes out and up the side of a buiding so he can wait for the guards to be distracted and slip into the building. Getting into position though he does make a mental note, get Spoiler some real weapons when this is over. Broomsticks are great in a pinch, but best left to when you need an improvised weapon.
Axiom takes up his spot, staff in his unarmored hand as he waits. He's trying to contain nervousness and excitement, just like always. The power booster really wants to impress Red Robin, still feeling like he mostly annoyed him during his previous team up even if that wasn't the truth. He's waiting for the first guard to appear, ready to strike out with his staff in hopes of taking him down quickly.
True to form, several of the guards follow the indistinct shape out into the street. When the first one steps out of the door, Red Robin raises a hand to let Spoiler and Axiom know to wait. Shortly after three more follow.
"Go."
As the last one steps out, the former Boy Wonder brings his bo staff up to catch him in the jaw. The thug lets out a startled 'grrk!' noise and the others spin around, though Red Robin gives them no time to think as he lunges at the nearest one with a boot to the chin.
Vorpal continues to lure guards, like sirens to Greek sailors, as he advances quietly down the corridor. The building is in shambles in some parts, but the walls have been recently been reinforced. He also notices that so far all doors have been walled up-- there must be a door only at one particular point- a controlled point of entry into the core of the building.
Someone was being careful and paranoid.
Vorpal trusted that Iron Spider's data was providing all this to Red Robin, as he could not speak without dispelling his invisibility. He sends another group of guards to the door, thinking that that may be the last in the area.
For her part, Spoiler is in action no more than a second behind Red Robin, moving toward the second man to leave the building -- after all, it makes sense that Robin would take the last and third. She spins toward this man, her cloak flaring around her, masking the far smaller target that is her body, and swings one of her sticks at his left ear even as he's turning toward her. This is followed up by an attempt to kick the legs out from under him and a glare from behind her mask. "Stay down," she says in a raspy voice that is clearly an attempt to emulate Batman, but mostly makes her sound like a teenaged girl with a sore throat.
As soon as he gets the signal, Axiom's in motion. Asgardian training comes into play as he extends his staff with a flick of the wrist and he swings for the thug he's selected. He aims for the midsection with the staff-strike and follows it up with another to the back just like Sif taught him to keep the man down. "Please stay down," no raspy voice from him. He's too cheery. Hearing more coming, Axiom frowns a bit. "Spoiler," he glances her way. "Brace yourself," he warns a few seconds before his eyes light up bright blue. This is followed by his boosting powers being applied to his fellow teenage vigilante. She'll find herself stronger, faster, more durable, and able to heal faster than normal too. A few more seconds and Axiom starts to mimick her as well, his costume shifting into a fusion of his own and Spoiler's.
The guards who were foolish enough to leave the building are taken down in short order, lying on the ground either unconscious or in such pain that they're not getting to their feet. The voice that Spoiler affects actually gets a warm smile from Red Robin, the first non-frown of the evening.
"Cute."
That said, he turns back around to face the door as two more guards charge out to find the source of the commotion.
"Heads up."
"Red Robin, that's all of them on this side..." Vorpal becomes visible as he speaks. "There's a door here..." he says quietly. "I suspect that's where the big enchilada is. Instructions?" The cat says, becoming invisible again and pushing the door ajar juuuuuuust a little bit to peer through. He has to pull the door back and back away, becoming visible and gasping again. "... oh man... I think you guys need to see this..."
Behind her mask, Spoiler blushes deeply. Twice in two days. This is a record. And at the same time, she feels the enhancements that Axiom is bestowing upon her. She hears the approach of the guards as Red Robin calls out a warning, and she's leaping into action already. She drops one of her broomsticks and grabs the mace from her belt pouch in the air, spraying it into the faces of the guards at point blank range, then following it up by thrusting the end of her remaining broomstick into one man's gut.
Thanks to mimicking Spoiler, Axiom's got himself a few more tools to work with. Namely a mimicked broomstick to go along with his staff. He leaps forward a few seconds after Spoiler, using the staff to help launch himself forward so he can kick one of the guards firmly in the chest.
Red Robin reaches into his belt, producing something that he throws through the air at the last thug standing. The thug looks down at his chest for a moment, confused, unable to make out the small projectiles that have embedded themselves in his jacket. A moment later a series of small concussion blasts erupt across his torso. Not enough to harm him permanently but certainly enough to crack some ribs and knock him to the ground unconscious.
"On my way," he answers, charging straight into the building while gesturing for Spoiler and Axiom to follow. It doesn't take long at all for him to reach Vorpal's position.
The Cheshire cat holds up a hand and a finger to his lips, and then waves his hand, covering his teammates in illusory darkness. He becomes invisible and pushes the door just a little bit to reveal...
The inside. The building at one point or another must have been a multi-leveled factory, now it was nothing more than a haunted shadow of its former self. Some 'renovations' have been made to the great gargantuan machines that populated the place, however-- they have been twisted and modified, their materials stipped and re-use to create thick, sturdy cages of twisted metal. Several of them line the floor... most are currently empty, except for two that contain apparently inert forms, slumped.
The tall hollow space with defunct machinery is dark and dusty, but functional fluorescent lights have been placed at strategic points and over the cages. There is one loading dock that connects to one of the streets, and presumably that is the loading and unloading zone.
And the thugs. There are several thugs patrolling the upper levels with flashlights, and working on cages in the lower level. There is a tall man with a long, black beard, much stronger than your average human, clearly someone in a position of power both literal and figurative.
"Holy hell.." the Cheshire whispers, closing the door again and looking to his teammates. Red Robin in particular.
Spoiler pauses only to collect her discarded baton and slide it back into its proper place at her waist, and then she's rushing after Red Robin. She's not too bad at the quiet thing, though she's certainly not Bat-trained and she's no cat or stealthy spider. But she is able to remain silent when Vorpal shushes one and all.
She peers down into the giant factory room, into those two cages with their unconscious occupants, and glances at the others before breaking the silence only to murmur, "Can we get them out of here?"
Iron Spider has been inside the building since the fighting really started. He has mapped out the parts he could and found himself a nice place in the shadows atop of the large defunct machines in the room. Once he knows that the others are near and have seen what he has he speaks to them in a somewhat artificial voice produced by his suit instead of him actually speaking. "Now you can see what I found. Not sure the exact strength of the man in charge but, I am likely the best chance for a one on one with him."
With the thugs down, Axiom stops boosting and mimicking Spoiler. Returning to his normal appearance, he collapses his staff back down for ease of carrying. While he's not bat-trained or spider-sneaky, Axiom's got plenty of experience being quiet and sneaking. He follows along with the others and frowns as they get into the factory room. His grip tightens on his staff when he sees the cages and the man with the beard. "We -will- get them out," he whispers to Spoiler, not a doubt in his mind about it.
"We'll get them out but that's not the first order of business," Red Robin states plainly into the comms, "Until we take out the guards they're safer in the cells."
He puts a hand on Vorpal's shoulder to move him gently out of the way, slipping past him and through the door so he can take up a position inside the room.
"Iron Spider, if you can take him? Great. If he doesn't go down then lead him down into the open. Everyone else split up. If we can ambush the other guards all at once we can focus our attention on the guy with the beard."
The cat looks at Red Robin and nods. "Roger.... I'll wait for the signal."
Vorpal becomes invisible and teleports into the room, choosing one of the guards who is close to one of the cages. His invisibility allows him to get that near without being seen. He shadows his guard in question, waiting for Robin's signal.
Spoiler nods, once again silent as she slips away from the group. The dark purple of her cloak allows her to blend into shadows better than pure black. She creeps up upon a guard, taking cover wherever she can, until she is so close to him that she will be able to grab him in a moment as soon as the signal is given.
Iron Spider moves quietly into a slightly better position. Once he is sure everyone is ready for it he grins darkly inside his suit. "Then call this the signal." He says before taking off running, still invisible and leaping. As he leaps *Thwip* Thwip* a pair of web lines shoot out aimed at guards walking the catwalks to try and drag them off while the Iron Spider flips in id iar comming down foot first aimed at a kick to the face for the obvious man in charge. After hitting, if he manges to do so, only then does he let the stealth from his suit drop and he becomes viable. Flipping back from the first attack he lands in front of the big an and if he is still standing immediately goes for a leg sweep using metal spider legs that pop from the back of his suit.
"Let m-me lend a hand," Axiom warns Iron Spider before boosting him. And since he's being given a stealthy mission, he mimicks the clone as well. Once his costume has shifted into a blue and white copy of the Iron Spider armor, Axiom nods. He moves around to position himself under a platform one of the thugs is patrolling. Once the signal is given, he'll be jumping up to ambush the man and take him down quickly.
Red Robin takes out his own guard quickly. In the chaos he descends from one of the jutting metal parapets overlooking the 'prison', drawing the guard back up with him. He drives his fist into his face, knocking him unconscious before leaving him to fall with a de-cel line bound about his ankle. He swings there passively, arms dangling and unconscious.
He immediately turns his attention to the other members of the impromptu team, searching for anyone who might be having trouble that he could help.
It's not an issue of dispatching people for Vorpal, it's only how to do it. For this particular moment? He chooses the flasy method. He becomes visible and essentially employs a series of moves- a kick, a punch, a knee-to-the-nuts, an uppercut to the jaw and then finally the good old 'grab them and smash their heads' applied to the bars of the cage (which give a resounding *DIIIIING*), and the guard (who, let's be honest, didn't have a chance to defend himself due to him coming out of thin air) looks like he's about to topple over. The use of a purple, glowing baseball bat applied judiciously to the solar plexus makes sure that that particular guard will not stand up again for a while.
Whereas for Iron Spider's nemesis of the moment... the tall man almost topples over from a blow that would have easily taken out a lesser man. But he wasn't one--- he was pounds of muscle and hatred compressed into sheer aggression. With blood pouring down his beard, the man rights himself up. He doesn't say anything, no gloating or taunts, he simply grabs an enormous hunk of metal that no man should have the strength to lift and throws it towards the black-and-purple arachnid, with a scream of rage.
Spoiler has been continuing her training at the YWCA. The signal given, she leaps onto her foe's back and clamps one arm tightly around his throat, yanking his head back against her chest in a sleeper hold. Theoretically this will work. However, she's never actually tried it before. Anyway, it seems more satisfying than just whacking him with the broomstick.
Iron Spider does not taunt the villain, he does not make sarcastic quips, or even do most of the other things that one might expect of a Spider themed hero. Instead he is fairly quiet as he watches his enemy for openings in which to attack. When the mountain of muscles rips a huge hunk of metal out and throws it at him the Iron Spider bends backwards to dodge it like something out of the movie the Matrix. Even as he is bending back forwards his arm is tossed out sending a stream of web fluid to catch the metal hunk and with a yank and swing change its trajectory so that the metal hunk can come around in a new arc aimed for the man that had thrown it.
Red Robin is quick. His own foe dispatched, he immediately turns his attention to the bruiser that Iron Spider just kicked in the face. As the monstrous man flings his metal and roars, the former Robin lands on his broad shoulder with a crouch and shoves an open palm squarely towards his open mouth. In his hands? Some of the same low-grade concussion detonators he used out front.
He doesn't wait for the result, instead he uses the giant's shoulder to fling himself away in a practiced backflip before landing on the railing as though it were the ground and not a mere two or three inches wide.
With powers and abilities borrowed from Iron Spider, Axiom's doing much better than he would have without them. He springboards off a thug only to kick another. Then there's a quick THWIP as he fires off a webline to yank the feet out from under another. Perched on a railing, he leaps over to make sure no one sneaks up on Spoiler while she's busy.
"Don't worry, I'll get you out of here."
Vorpal is trying to jimmy the lock in the cage near him. Of course, the girl can't hear him, she's totally knocked out. So is the man whose face he used as a doorknocker for that cage. Something strikes the cat as odd, and he looks up just in time to see...
The large man is hit by the chunk of metal, blood gushing from his side in a serious but non-lethal injury infliced upon him by a piece of sharp, twisted salient metal in the hunk. Then there's Red Robin shoving things in his mouth-- the giant flails and tries to dislodge them... but it is too late. The grenades go off and he goes out like a light.
He also trips backwards and slams onto one of the heaps of metal, setting off an avalanche towards the cage Vorpal is protecting.
"OH HOLY (censored)!"
There's a purple glow as the Cheshire cat slams a purple flamingo-club against the lock of the cage, tearing it clear off. In a hurry, he drags the girl out and floats upwards, just as the sea of debris covers the cage.
The other cage is on the other side of the room, with a young unconscious man inside, and fortunately intact.
"...I think I just lost one life there..." Vorpal quips, holding on to the unconscious young girl in midair.
For her part, Spoiler manages to cling to the guard as he tries to throw her off, cutting off the flow of blood to his brain until he collapses on the ground, unconscious. Finally she releases him, rises to her feet and looks around. "Did we win?"
Once he is sure that the mountian of a man is out cold Iron Spider goes to work with his web shooters wrapping him up in a nice tight cocoon. He does give Red Robina nod for his part in helping thake the man out. "Useful things those minature explosives." That done he does a quick visual sweep of the room to see what else is left and nods at Axiom. "Axiom, go for the one in the other cage. And Vorpal,be careful, that means your down to what...5 left?"
"Nice," Axiom offers as Spoiler takes the man down. He looks around and nods. "It looks l-like it," he offers. When Iron Spider calls his name, Axiom perks to attention and nods. "G-g-got it!" he chimes, backflipping off the railing. He approaches the cage and uses borrowed strength ro break it open, fishing the unconscious young man out carefully.
"We won," Red Robin answers, watching Iron Spider bind up the bruiser, "Good job."
"Vorpal. You're registered. I've put through an anonymous tip off to the GCPD. They'll be here soon and you can help them take care of these people. Axiom and Iron Spider - if you don't want to explain yourself to the authorities I'd suggest taking off. Spoiler with me, please."
He doesn't wait for the answers, firing off a de-cel line and zipping at speed towards the ceiling before disappearing through one of the grimy skylights above.
"Yessir." The cat lowers himself to a non-cutty-pokey part of the floor and lets the girl down on a summoned purple bed. "You heard him, guys... if you want your names mentioned, though, let me know. The newshounds are going to be after this one." He looks towards Iron Spider and whispers very, very quietly, "See you at home for dinner."
Spoiler's eyes go wide behind her mask, and then she slumps a little. She waves at Vorpal with one glove, then retrieves her grappler and follows after Red Robin. We who are about to die salute you.
Iron Spider nods at Red Robin as he moves next to Vorpal. "Well trained, efficient, and inteligent. I like him." Actaul high praise from Iron Spider. He is really deciding he likes the the people conected to the infamous Batman. "I will be watching, and be careful. I know you have someone to go home too Vorpal." The Iron Spider says before disapearing from sight. He is trying to keep his civilian ID and heroic one secret, even if his civilian ID is a paper thin fiction to start with. Before he does go he says, "Don't look so worried Spoiler. You did an...adequate job." He has imposible standards, with luck Spoiler might realize or be told that that is his version of praise.
"S-s-sure, you c-can mention me," Axiom says. He stops boosting and mimicking Iron Spider and starts heading out himself.
Category:Log