All Out War (November 1, 2016)

[Nightwing]

Damian Wayne drummed his irritated fingers against his knee, sneering into his reflection. He stared at the Batcomputer with less enthusiasm than his abandoning partner. This night was beginning to feel a lot like their last catastrophic event in Gotham and he didn't like it. He glanced over at Nightwing who was still unconscious from his wounds. Pennyworth did his best in following all the proper procedures to making sure he would be healed. Just wouldn't be anytime soon. That fact coupled with being left with only Commissioner Gordon and Huntress as his allies frustrated the pre-teen. He was forced to take a risk by bringing them both here. He even gave Gordon one of Batman's prototype suits so he could have an advantage against what they would be facing. He heard his comments in the background but ignored them. Contrary to what Gordon thought, there was no backup. Not after City of Chaos. Everyone seemed to grow distant following the event ultimately allowing his Grandfather to win in the grand scheme of things. Gotham was in shambles. It's own savior had left it to fend on it's own.

Damian's glare tightened at the screen as he scoured through news reports of latest Gotham news. Several things stuck out to him. First was the onscreen appearance of his Mother. The second was Deathstroke's death. It didn't surprise him that Black Mask would willingly give this footage to news outlets. He was running around campaigning as Gotham's new "Dark Knight" after all. As for the other villains, they were shoved into the armored vans and the feed cut shortly after. Robin balled a fist, slamming it down into the desk. Damian squeezed his eyes so tightly they felt as if they were on fire. He arched over, grabbing clumps of his hair and snarling at the cold, hard ground of the Batcave. The seizure lasted all of five seconds before he snapped up, back straight, and stared at his Father's suit display. His fists shook.

At Red Robin's entrance, he would bitterly say. "Finally decided to crawl out of whatever hell hole you've been hiding in?" he said, scowling and dripping with animosity. He put on his hooded cape, then re-strapped his utility belt as he stood up around his waist. He looked up at Tim who wasn't that much taller than him. "I'm sure you're familiar with the exit. Use it." he ordered. "The rest of us have a city to save." he gestured to the vigilante woman clad in purple and Commissioner Gordon.  

[Red Robin]

Tim Drake | Red Robin | Batcave

There it was. That whiney, montonous drone that was one of the very banes of Tim's existence. Damian. He was biting his lips as they trembled, trying to not let anything provocative escape. The attempt at trying however was futile, "The reason we're all like this in the first place is because of you and your grandfather." He was walking down the steps of the Batcave and got a glance of d**k unconscious which aggravated him even further. Continuing his way down towards where Gordon and Damian where situated, he continued, "It's because of you that Gotham is vulnerable like this in the first place." His mouth was upturned in disgust, looking down at him. At this creature that somehow Bruce spawned, "The most heroic thing you could do is leave Gotham for good. All you've ever done is bring trouble here." In a moment of anger, in which Tim should have had much better control over himself, it slipped out of his mouth, "Next time you're kidnapped, do us a favour. Don't bother coming back. We're better off without you." He was towering little above Damian as he stood right in front of him, with a scowl to rival the Batman himself.  

[Nightwing]

Since the first moment Damian somersaulted into the bat cave, he’d been treated like a loose cannon. It had made sense in the beginning. Trained and nurtured by the League of Assassins from conception, he had all the makings of the finest of fine super villains. It didn’t even seem to help that his father was Batman, the Caped Crusader. The Dark Knight. The person everyone feared, and yet still respected. Somehow, that detail just made Damian all the more dangerous. So Damian came up with an idea. He thought, "If I become Robin, a better Robin, then they’ll have to accept me. Me, not the person Mother and the League thought they could raise from a test tube."

And he lived and breathed on this idea. It exhilarated him. Motivated him. Made him happy.

..But it never felt like enough.

The majority of the Bat-family made it painstakingly clear that no matter what he did, he would always be a threat. Even Father didn’t really trust him to go out on his own. It was as if someone had tattooed ‘League of Assassins’ on him while he wasn’t looking, and he wasn't able to erase the words from his chest without maiming himself in the process. And he hated it.

Grayson never acted like he wasn’t enough. He never lectured him or stopped him from occasionally patrolling on his own. Damian didn’t know if it was Grayson’s unyielding faith in humanity or some kind of misplaced feeling of obligation for his younger brother, but what he did know was that Grayson was an enigma. A stupid, happy enigma who seemed to give a damn about Damian.

But Tim...Tim had always hated him from the moment he first laid eyes on him. Always out to take his spot as Batman's rightful son when he was nothing but a sad pitiful orphan. Damian glared tight and bit down so hard that his teeth were starting to grind together. "Don't think for a second that because the city is in shambles that I won't hesitate to break your face, you third rate fatherless fraud for an heir." Robin hissed. "You've been jealous of me from the beginning. Admit it, Red Robin. You wish so badly Batman was your Father that you hate me because I'm everything you will never be. It's quite pathetic." -tt- Robin added. "I'm well aware of my family's involvement in this if you would like to point out anymore of the obvious. But unlike you, I'm doing something about it. It's not like you were a pivotal party during Grandfather's take over of the city anyway. Catwoman proved more useful than you." obviously bigger things were at stake but once Damian had started going, it was too rich to stop. He was giving Tim an earful of his own insecurities since he wanted to poke a stick at his. He lashed out in anger and was moments away from taking a wild swing but decided not to. His words would sting enough that he wouldn't need to. He simply walked over to his cycle and gestured the others to do the same.

 

[Red Robin]

Tim Drake | Red Robin | Batcave

Gripping his fists, the idea flared in his mind for a moment. Lunging towards him and beating him senseless. Beating every last damn bit of wickedness out of him. But for Bruce and for d**k, he had tolerate him. The constant nagging and bickering that he would spout. There was a mission at hand, and he wouldn't let Damian jeopardize it. "There we go, there's the homicidal maniac raised in a vat of chemicals coming out." Throwing nothing more than a glare Damian's way, he was really trying his best to not fall any further than he had. There was more important things to deal with than Damian's inferiority complex. As he got to his own Robin's Motorcycle, he turned to Gordon, "Once I'm positioned, I'll establish contact with each of you. We're not going to win this without a strategic advantage." Each of you did include Damian as well, whether he liked it or not. He swung his left leg over the motorcycle and pulled back on the grips as the engine ignited. "--And I intend to give us just that."

The drive out was the beginning of the therapeutic silence Tim needed to get over what Damian had said. He was ashamed in himself, deep down. Tim was worried about him whenever Ra's had attacked the city - he wanted to make sure his brother was safe. Bruce nor d**k would have approved of what had happened back in the Batcave. "--Tim Drake should have known better-- Drake? Wayne. Tim Wayne." There it was again. He thought to himself in assertion. He wasn't going to let Damian get to him. As he entered the city, he was no sooner off his motorcycle, and swinging to a rooftop. Being close to the sky and the stars helped him think. To be so insignificant in a cosmic scale, yet so significant right here - right now. It was an empowering paradox; the insignificantly significant. Optimism. Yeah. Crucial to not let that be drained any further. Crossing his legs atop of the building, he pulled out his laptop and began to continue tracking the crime-lords, and their recent activity - ready to let Gordon and co. know anything at a moments notice.  

[Nine1122]

Nightwing

Nightwing awoke with a fire in his chest that he couldn't put out. The pain was beyond imagining and yet it was not what he focused on. He could hear Damian and Tim arguing. He should have expected as much but honestly he was too out of it to really expect much of anything. He couldn't get off his bed but he didn't have to. He could reach his phone at the edge of the side table even though moving his arm to grab it hurt. The Batcave was better than a hospital as far as being a crime fighter went and Alfred was good, but d**k had some serious injuries. Once he had his phone he sent a text to both Damian and Tim. A simple message that read: You two need to work together, not fight. It doesn't matter who started it. You two are protecting Gotham. End it. And just about after sending that he fell unconscious again.

Company: None | Name: d**k Grayson | Equipment: None

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Erik Killmonger

Tactical Vigilante

 

[Veranda Girl]

"I figured Batman had a place where he hung his cape. I just didn't think he took the whole bat thing this literally. It all makes sense. The Batmobile, The Bat-Signal, The Bat-Cave. Let me guess? The Batcomputer?" Helena was having a lot of fun pointing out all of the whole Bat themed mission Gotham's protector had going on. She never ever thought about calling her motorcycle the Huntress-Bike or something in that realm of silliness. A decent set-up. It actually looked pretty pricey, probably way more than she or her blood money harboring family could ever afford. She wasn't left with much time to explore while her new bird friends traded clap for clap at each other. There was clearly some history there but funny enough, the kid looked like he didn't have much history to begin with. The older of the two drove out of there before it got worse which was fair, leaving her with the original three which included the head honcho cop. "Well that was something. You okay, kid? I clearly don't know the family history but I know personal just about as much as the next guy."  

[Nightwing]

Not surprising that Drake would take leave first. It was his specialty after all. Damian looked down hearing a ping sound and glanced down at the text sent by...Grayson. He looked over at him, having fell back unconscious and glared. He put the phone away and looked at Huntress and rather than to answer her question, ignored it completely. They had wasted enough valuable time as is. He looked at the Bat-computer that was now picking up a situation. He stood off his bike and went over to see what else had happened. Touching a key on the board in front of him, news reports popped up about an explosion in East Gotham. Sionis...Robin thought. "Let's go." he told the others.

"Although the suit is a prototype it should be more than capable against even the likes of Bane." he told Jim. He picked up a spare grappling gun and tossed it casually for Huntress to catch. "Has a couple different features yours probably don't have. Our tech is top of the line. If you're going to be working with us you'll need that." he didn't mean to sound arrogant, it was his way of being nice or trying to be. He again went over to his cycle and punched in the location on his GPS.

He breathed life into the bike by squeezing the handle bars and powered out of the cave with a wheelie.

Little under fifteen minutes later

The trio had arrived. Robin took to the rooftops courtesy of his grappling gun and on his signal they would all crash Sionis' already crashed party. When they entered there is where they would see this new vigilante down. "Underwhelming." he declared.

 

[Rhyming Demon]

Azrael was barely conscious as the heroes arrived. The acid that copperhead shot at Valley had not only damaged his armour but it fused part of it to his flesh. Which meant he was in excruciating pain. He would need medical help to get the damaged armour off of him. It was on his shoulder blade where the two connected. And the villains asides from copperhead had already likely escaped by now. To make matters worse he was buried underneath tons of rubble from Penguins missile. The trio would likely see someone underneath it all trying to climb out of it as he grunted in pain. Jean-Paul on the other hand wasn’t even aware of the presence of the heroes so as far as he knew he was alone. And even if he wasn’t he wasn’t the type to ask for help. So he simply would try to crawl out and hope his armour wasn’t too damaged for it whilst ignoring the searing pain from the injury that the snake had cause.

 

[Man Of Steel Superman]

With Bane assisting in his escape, Black Mask could rest at ease. The new player had been doing him a favor by ambushing their meeting. He hadn't an idea who he was but he intended on finding out just not now. There were bigger fish to fry, and more important meetings he needed to make on schedule. Bane followed instruction per usual and drove Sionis to his next destination. He wanted to be drove to the end of town and as they slowed down there was his van as requested waiting. Inside were two individuals he would be trading for incentive. The other begrudgingly accepted his terms so long as he kept his dealings based out of Gotham only. He didn't like agreeing to terms but this woman...she wasn't someone he needed breathing down his neck. It was better to give her something useful now and be done. Sionis stepped out of the black SUV and walked over to the fan, banging his fist on the backdoor. The armed driver and passenger both opened their doors and with purpose in their step met their boss at the back ready to serve.

"She's supposed to be arriving soon. Get the pawns ready." they acknowledged his order by opening the doors of the van. Inside were Killer Croc and Harley Quinn shackled. He was even willing to part ways with the van as another gift to her.  

[Archon Thorne]

From the distance came the thrumming sound of an approaching aircraft. It approached from the south, it was difficult to see due to the dull blackened hull that gave it shape, but the twin whirring rotator blades atop its roof made it clear that it was a helicopter. It was military grade, a Boeing Class CH-47 Chinook, the kind usually only seen in the theaters of war. As it approached a bright spear of light burst into life from its prow, shining down on the Black Mask and his assosciates. It was blinding and made it painful to watch its approach. Great gust of wind blew off in every direction as it descended towards them, sending dirt, grass and grit every this way and that. It landed with a dull thud, several more lights flashing to life and illuminating the area around it. With a muted sigh, the cargo door along its back slowly grinded open, touching the ground now as a boarding ramp.

The thudding sound of a dozen boots stomping on metal plate could be heard as a squad of six soldiers exited from the cargo bay. They were all fully fit in their tactical gear and armed to the teeth. Each of them was a trained soldier, battle hardened and proven. Each of them was a cold blooded killer, whose sense of duty to their country had seen them go above and beyond the call of valor and in some cases crossing that ambiguous line of moral ethics. They were all former Navy Seals, Army Green Rangers, Marine and Air spec opcs. Now they were all assigned to a new unit. Task Force X.

It was a name spoken of only in hushed whispers among the higher echelons of the military and the government. Some had claimed it was just a myth, established only to frighten terrorist and would be dictators. This myth was of course true, but not everyone needed to know that. Task Force X had seen entire governments topple, eliminated several would be mass murders, and prevented some of the greatest would be tragedies that the world had never even known had come close to occurring. No one save for the highest commanding figures within the U.S. Government really knew or acknowledged existence. And they all feared its commander.

Her name was Amanda Waller and she was the next figure to exit the air craft. She was a slim figure, bare of any obvious gear or arms save for a small a hand gun strapped to her side. For a woman whose name was often associated with the bane of several high ranking terrorist, criminals, and warlords, she did not appear all too threatening. But that could not have been further from the truth. Her eyes conveyed the full depth of who she was. A schemer, a manipulator, and a killer. Someone who had worked her way from the bottom and clawed all the way to the top in an ocean of blood and treachery. And here she was now to parley and bargain with some would be crime lord of Gotham who sought more than he had any right to.

Two figures had followed after her. Both of whom should have been immediately recognizable as they finally came to a halt behind Waller, given their fierce and quite frankly deadly reputations. To her left was the fiery red head, notorious terrorist and mercenary Bette Sans Souci, otherwise known as the villain Plastique, dressed in her iconic violet skin suit. She was well known for her destructive abilities to turn anything that she touched into a bomb as well as the ability to cause thunderous explosions seemingly out of nowhere. She had a casualty list that had numbered somewhere in the hundreds. Waller had gone to some effort to detain her in the lands of Quarrac as she had attempted to assassinate the prime minister. To her right was the fabled and deadly martial artist and former member of the League of Assassins, Ben Turner, otherwise known as the Bronze Tiger. He was said to be the greatest martial artist in all of the world, having fought against well-known names such as Deathstroke, Lady Shiva and even the Batman himself. Under the control of the League, he had murdered dozens of powerful influential figures around the world. Prime Ministers, The heads of banks and hospitals, military generals. None were safe from his sights. Waller had acquired custody of him following the war between Batman and the League quite some time ago. Two powerful criminals, now both under the direct and firm control of Amanda Waller.

The squad of soldiers flanked the Task Force X leader to the left and right, all of them primed and ready to train their sights on the Black Mask, Bane, and the rest of these scum that had sought her attention. She stepped forward, motioning for everyone else to stay put and approached the Black Mask, expecting him to meet her in the middle.

“Roman Sionis. “ She said his name aloud, referring to him by his full name rather than the moniker he had given himself. She stood confidently and clearly unimpressed with the figure before her. She knew this man, just as she knew the name of nearly every super powered freak or insane crime lord that sought to make a name in the wretched city that called itself Gotham. “” You already know who I am, so let’s jump straight to the point. What is it that you want?”She jumped straight to the heart of the matter. Not inquiring as to how he had managed to get ahold of her private email address let alone deliver a message. These kind of freaks always had some kind of way of getting around such things. In his message he had mentioned a deal. She at first had thought the idea laughable but then considered it more. She had only come out here because of her curiosity of what this man thought he could offer her.

 

[Nightwing]

Sionis could scoff at Waller's entrance if he didn't think it would get him killed. Anyone with a working brain knew it was more than fear that kept this lady's goons in line. It was her. Something about this woman was more batshit than well the Bat-family themselves. Scarier part is she didn't need to wear a costume and her position in the government made you think once about how you approached her. He knew what kind of animal he was dealing with. And to get what he needed to be done, he would need to come correct. Pique her interest. Thanks to the ever beautful, Talia, he learned about this 'Task Force X' Waller kept in secret. Only a select few were privy to such knowledge. This knowledge is what Sionis would use to keep Waller from tearing up his operation. "I'm glad you could make it. I know how valuable your time is, Ms. Waller." he wanted to gag at the act he was forced to put on. It would all be worth it in the end though. "I've heard about your team..and I thought if you were to let me have free reign over Gotham that I would in return give you a gift. Several in fact." he waved a hand and his goons dragged Harley out of the van. Croc had special chains so if he tried to act up, he would pay for it. They only had to direct him to come out and face their new boss of sorts.

"These two I rounded up not long ago. I think they'll be fine additions to your team..." he held out his hands. And a second van would pull up just on time. Sionis loved his theatrics so he would excuse this van being late by not killing them the second they exited. "And if they aren't enough to appease you, I have one more I collected in the beginning of all this Chaos. I think this next individual will prove to be very valuable to your cause." the second pair of goons exited their vans and in the back of it was none other than the helm wearing vigilante himself. He was a little beaten up but that was expected to keep him in line.

cursed Red Hood who's helmet was cracked.

"Watch it." his tone darkened turning back to Waller recollecting himself. "So, do we have a deal?"  

[Archon Thorne]

"No." Waller said bluntly, most likely shattering any vision of how Sionis thought that this was going to play out. She had watched as he presented her with his 'gifts' and quite honestly she had been unimpressed with the offering of the joker-obsessed lunatic Harley Quinn and the lumbering form of that freak Killer Croc. The idea that he thought to buy out Waller's lack of interference with these two was laughable. That said, she was admittedly impressed by the sudden unveiling of the Red Hood. The lost ward of the bat. The murderous vigilante who thought to put the law in his own hands even more aggressively then his former mentor. This one Waller had kept tabs on for quite some time, as she had with everyone of the Caped Crusader's wards and protegees. Now this one would have some use. The unveiling had only been spoiled by the late arrival and the very theatrics that Black Mask loved.

"Do not fool yourself into believing that you are in any kind of position to be making deals, Sionis. " She scolded him, annoyance evident in her eyes. This fool clearly held himself on a pedestal several steps higher than it really was. It was her pleasure to ensure that he realized the error of that assumption. "I don't make deals with criminals, Sionis. To me, you're nothing more than a maggot that's crawled it's way to the top of a dung heap. If I wanted to , I could end your existence with a mere-" *SNAP!* She rubbed her fingers against one another, snapping to emphasize her point. Her voice was stern and she clearly had no qualms of ending his life here and now. All she had to do was give the order and Plastique here would send them all to kingdom come. Still though, with Batman gone and Gotham in disarray, Sionis presented her with an opportunity. " The only reason you're still breathing right now, is because you're more useful alive then you are dead. Of my list of priorities in the world right now, Gotham is at the bottom. I would prefer it kept that way. " She stepped up towards, him glaring at him with a promise of punishment should he fail to do as she ordered. It would not take much to have a missile drone open fire on his manor while he slept or to have a sniper put a bullet through his head from miles away. She was the nightmare of the criminal underworld after all.

" Do not give me a reason to reconsider that, Sionis. For your benefit. " With that she raised one hand, tracing a finger around in a circle. She turned back towards her men, gesturing towards the subdued villains. "Take them in. We're done here." She declared before walking towards the boarding ramp of the Chinook. She paid no further heed to the Black Mask or his men, feeling that she had made her point clear. She was in control. Not the Mask. Not the League of Shadows, not the Batman. And she would ensure that it was kept that way. As her men escorted the three prisoner into the Cargo Bay, she looked back at Black Mask one final time. His place in the pecking order firmly established, and despite his wishes, it was not at the top as he had hoped.  

[Nocturnal Vigilante]

The criminals in Gotham intended on letting the chaos spill over from the utterly maddening and destructive holiday.The vigilantes and Gordon sporting the navy blue crime fighting robo-suit arrived all too late to the aftermath of a battle against Gotham's respective crime lords, no less. With the number of cops dwindled after the attack on Sionis Industries, Gordon didn't have enough men to protect what was left of their streets and track people like Black Mask. Time for grieving and remembering the fallen would come once what was left of Gotham's last line of defense nipped the cancer that plagued the city in the bud. Gordon landed with a thud against the flooring, followed by the crumpling and sharp crunching of glasses underneath the metal boot of the suit. "Is there a light in this confounded thing?" Said the police commissioner while he tapped away at a few buttons he deduced were passive, albeit a bit random as they either did nothing or nothing of which he needed until the vision within the suits interface displayed as a heat signature reader. Relatively empty save for two figures, one on the outside and one not too far from where the vigilantes surveyed their surroundings. "Got a live one over here." Gordon called to the others, hanging back with a shoulder mounted riot gun revealing itself from it's opening. He dressed like one of them but just like Huntress, he had never seen this one before either. "Where do you people keep coming from?"  

[Nightwing]

Robin could ask the same question as Gordon. First, Huntress and now whoever this was. They appeared to be barely conscious and were obviously pained from punching above their belt. Robin investigated the situation to the best of his abilities and cursed himself at missing this meeting. It was Drake's fault for interrupting in the first place. Ugh! His brain felt like it was on fire and then nothing, he closed his eyes and reopened them not allowing the others to see he wasn't in the best of minds. Or handling things well as it pertained to being Gotham's only chance. Robin walked over to this new vigilante and lifted him up by his collar as he tried crawling out. "Who're you?" he wanted to know.