2013.08.26 - Rescuing Shelby Knox

Abandoned Cistern

Deep under Old Gotham, beneath the sewers and the subways, are twisting tunnels of the early city that were simply built-over throughout the years. Many of these tunnels eventually empty into the old South Gotham cistern, a cavernous chamber made of concrete and rebar about the size of a high school football field.

Over the years, however, it's been built and rebuilt by various low life groups that have squatted in it. Thus, there's a rough second teir above the main bowl made of scrap metal and old skids, held up by ropes and swinging net bridges.

High powered builder's lights attached to heavy electrical cables jacked into stolen energy feeds provide most of the illumination in the place, although there are a few lower-tech means of heat and light, too -- kerosene and camping equipment being the most noticeable.

It's a squatter's paradise, really, except that it's been cleaned out by some of the local gangs and made into a de facto neutral meeting ground for the criminal underbelly of the dark city on the Jersey shore.

--

It's late in the evening. The sun is down and the moon is up -- not that it really matters. The only light in the cistern beneath Old Gotham is cast from the builders lamps and camp lanterns hung about the place. It's stark and harsh. The shadows are sharp and well-defined, which may be either good or bad, depending on the moment.

The cement chamber is filled with noise, and bodies. It feels almost like one of those post-apocalyptic markets you sometimes see in 80's sci-fi, complete with bikers and gangers and grifters and cons, and other unsavoury sorts.

And like the some of those old sci-fi movies, the center of the chamber has been cleared into some sort of combat ring -- MMA ultimate fighting style. Or maybe Thunderdome (without the cage).

There are numerous colors and factions in attendance. The District Kings seem to have sway, but they're hardly alone. Indeed, there's been an uneasy alliance building over the past several weeks. And such things have a way of garnering the notice of those who watch for such things. People like the police. And Oracle.

Of course, the fact Oracle has managed to embed one of her operatives in this little fight ring has helped somewhat. The Huntress, whom the Kings know as Helena, was summoned for the 'championship round', or so she was told. She's not the only fighter there. There are others. And, though she probably can't see it where she's at, ringside, she's not without support

Oracle has sent her people into the crowds, some undercover and some hiding in shadows. At least one has been given the task of setting up remote feeds and signal bouncers for her to get a clear picture of what's happening down there.

The focus of the crowd, however, now comes to rest on a group of men in suits who come to meet the leaders of the gangs that have gathered here. The men are not unprotected. They've brought with them bodyguards, who would fit right in if they exchanged the cheap polyester for leather and studs. Their assault weapons are fairly good deterrents against hostility, however.

Finally, there are cages around the main ring. In one of them is a young woman who really shouldn't be there -- a hacker who got too close to the truth, who wasn't as good as Oracle at covering her tracks. She's probably disoriented, thanks to the stun grenade that was used to incapacitate her to bring her down here.

Opposite Jeanne Foucault's cage is another cage. This one is draped with a tarp, so the occupant cannot be seen.

Stirring out of a state of unconsciousness to find herself in a cage, Jeanne is still a little dazed from the stun grenade that took her out. It was unpleasant the first time around when she saw it coming, and it proved every bit as unpleasant when she wasn't ready for it. She thought nobody would ever detect her hacking, and she was proved wrong. The surrounding doesn't look all that promising either. Reaching to grab a hold of the bars, Jeanne starts to pull herself up, looking about with bleary eyes, trying to judge in just how much trouble she got herself into.

"Hey, take it easy!"

"No bags."

GCPD indeed has a presence here, in the form of an undercover cop--the same one who nearly had his cover blown at the Sunday Night Fight Night back in June. He scowls as the heavyset District King thug rips the satchel from his shoulder, throws it onto a table and starts going through it. He pulls out a busted old laptop, a few porno magazines, Slim Jim wrappers, earbuds, and so forth, but nothing of any real danger.

When the thug removes a brown paper bag, however, the undercover cop snaps his fingers. "He-he-he-hey hey, hey. No man. C'mon, hand it over. C'moooon man! Hand it over!"

The thug peers at the 40-ounce malt beverage inside, then shoves it at the undercover cop's chest. "What's your name?"

"It's Billy, Billy Porgan. Kind of like Billy Corgan, except not as awesome, you know? So, what, this cool, man?" He lifts the liquor-concealing paper bag. "I mean, seriously. This cool?"

The thug jerks a thumb inside, letting Billy go on in and join the crowd.

Meanwhile, Detective Benson and Commissioner Gordon are seated in an unmarked car about a block and a half away from where many of the attendants are entering the underworld, backed up into an old, graffiti-stained car-port. Each of them are listening to the wire concealed within Billy's shirt, and each of them seem quite on edge. As Gordon lights a cigarette, Detective Benson scowls. "Really?"

"Oh, cut it out, Benson," Gordon quips. "I'm the goddamned Police Commissioner, if I want to smoke in the car, I'm gonna smoke in the car."

The shadows is where Darkwing is most at home. He's currently trying to blend into the shadows and not attract attention to himself. His optics are currently configured to relay what he sees to Oracle so that she can keep see. Most of those who see him, probably know better than to cross him. His costume for tonight's got a brown duster on over it. Truth was that he disliked these kinds of events. While he's capable of hiding out, he would much rather be actually fighting someone right now. He already had to be good once this week when he went to the StarkExpo. Now he's playing good again and not trying to beat on most of the attendees.

It's one of those things... A conscience, regardless of how warped time and experience may have left it, will still only flex so far before it ceases to be a conscience at all. Domino hasn't been a major force involved with the case of Shelby Knox. Frankly, she couldn't be bothered. That's what the other hero and vigilante sorts are out there for, right? She's always got bigger and more important matters (to her) to deal with. Until tonight.

The call for request had been made. She answered. Her purpose for this run didn't need explanation, she's fire support and another target to keep the baddies on their toes. She's quite proficient in both of these fields, and just lucky enough to not end up getting herself destroyed in the process.

To anyone else here she's just another one of the bikers, with skin more pale than usual. She's gone through some effort to cover up the black spot around her eye until both could be properly shaded out in a deep charcoal finish. Chrome and black leather rule the day, though they also hide a healthy assortment of unfriendly devices meant solely for keeping an unfriendly world at arm's length, or further. When things get ugly she won't be making them any prettier.

Until then Dom's got some scouting to do, mentally mapping out the joint while also helping to set up Oracle's technological reach by dropping wireless relays within key locations. So far no one's noticed her, or at least no one's called her out on being places that maybe she shouldn't be passing through.

Undercover work is always unusual for Kate Bishop a.k.a. Hawkeye. To be honest, she rarely does it. It's one facet of the costumed life that she doesn't have a lot of experience with.

And yet, here she is. In tight black leather pants, a black leather and fishnet top, and black leather boots. Her hair has been dyed a bright, but fake looking, red with purple tips. But she does have her 'sunglasses'. And on top of that, she's armed. For example she has a mini crossbow strapped to one hip, and a small quiver of arrows strapped to her other. And on top of that, under her leather jacket there's a couple of odd 'lumps', while she is /also/ carrying a rather full looking, but old and beaten up backpack as well.

Thus, as one of Oracles agents in the crowd, Kate is ready just in case. All though as she's bumped and jostled every now and then, she does look like she's about to rip someone's head off. But then again, that's probably just an act. Right?

Helena Bertinelli stands amongst a group of other combatants, waiting for the central ring's fights to start up. She's managed to forge a sort of friendship with Pequena, the scrappy little Latina she fought against back in June. They're trading joking insults with each other and some of the other angry chola-looking women in the little group while Helena pretends to drink the beer in her hand. Unlike any of the other people here on Oracle's behest -- which she has very pointedly asked NOT to know about in case anyone tries to question her -- she's not sporting any weaponry at all, not even concealed. It used to make her feel like she needed to keep a wall at her back, but among this crowd she's learned that having a weapon makes her MORE of a target. And besides, she wouldn't get to use it inside the ring anyway. She'll just settle for the steel toes in her boots and the reinforcements in her motorcycle jacket if push comes to stab.

Laughing at some crude joke or comment made by Pequena, she glances over toward the cages, noting the one that's covered and the uncoordinated movements of the girl in the uncovered one. That's her goal, regardless of anything anyone else in this Godforsaken place does. She's opening those cages and getting whomever is inside away from here.

The shadows. They've always been a boon, for the Bats, but there aren't many here to work with. Gotham rooftops are an entirely different game from a crowded underground fight club, though trekking through the sewers has been known to happen now and again.

At least they're dealing with good, old-fashioned human criminals, and not Killer Croc or the like. It'd almost be refreshing, if not for the stench of sweat and stale beer.

A series of codes messages flashes across available HUDs. Think morse code, except about one hundred times more complicated. Non-verbal communication as befitting someone trying not to be seen or heard. Reports on enemy movement. A physical eye in the sky.

Robin hasn't moved a muscle in nearly an hour, a skill literally beat into him by Batman. Something can smack into him without him giving an inch. There's a pressure sensor in the palm of his gauntlet that he's using to relay intel as he looks down from his perch, an old grate that used to feed from up above down into the cistern. Dots and dashes. His mask feed is being piped directly to Oracle for her perusal, of course, though he's shouldering some of the burden with his onboard computer system and direct, shielded connection to the Batnet.

_---..____._..---..___--..--.___--_..-.---.--_

Translation: Two heat sigs in cages. 2nd running hot.

As the feeds from headsets and scattered tech come online -- thermals, IR, visuals... basically everything she could think to send -- Oracle sends the feeds into her holo-imaging system, creating a three-dimensional replica of the action in front of her. She's not entirely happy with this arrangement, but it's the best she can do. The intel she's given her people is fairly straightforward: This fight club meeting is more than it seems. Some sort of 'technological advancement' is to be unveiled. Some sort of game changer that will, supposedly, benefit both the gangs and the business men who have come to watch the demonstration.

As the feed from Robin comes in, she frowns, and keys her com to speak with her people. "That second cage may contain Shelby Knox," she says to them. "Rescuing her is a priority, but it's just as important that we keep H from being 'upgraded'. I suspect that the 'advancement' they're advertising is bio-technical in nature. And I think Shelby may be what they're going to unveil."

Doesn't that sound happy?

"Can someone get me a zoom on the first cage? I want to know who the kid is."

Pequena barks a laugh at something Helena says. She might be a potential ally, tonight. But, don't count on it. Not unless her friendship with the disguised vigilante is tighter than expected.

A man walks to the center of the ring and turns in a small circle. He's dressed in black jeans and black leather jacket. "Tonight," he tells the crowd, "Is a unique night. Tonight we're going to unveil for you the future."

He gestures to two guys standing near the cages. One of them steps up to Jeanne's cage, a second standing over his shoulder with a compact automatic weapon braced against his body, aimed at her. He stays out of easy reach. The man with the key begins unlocking the girl's cage.

At the other cage, another man does the same, unlocking the cage. But he doesn't remove the tarp or throw open the lock bar.

"Hey...I don't belong here, okay? I don't know what I'm doing here, but you better stay away from me, you creep," Jeanne warns the man who reaches to unlock her cage. Jeanne stumbles as far away from the door to her cage, pressing herself against the bars on the other end, "don't touch me," she calls out. It's clear to see, however, from her movement that she's not in the best condition. Her movements a little off and show signs of disorientation. At least she's smart enough not to try anything while an automatic weapon is aimed at her.

Billy Porgan makes his way through the crowds, eye-balling those who so openly carry heavy weaponry. "Jeeesus," he mutters to a person he comes up next to. "This place is well stocked. Hell, there's enough metal down here to form a mother fucking militia. Better not make friends with the losing side, huh?" He eyeballs the fellow next to him, who is also carrying a shotgun. Sawed off, of course. The fellow merely smirks back at Billy and hefts his gun before tipping his head toward Billy's brown bag.

"Huh? Oh. Right." Smirking, Billy offers a swig to the big guy, who hands it back and gives Billy an approving nod of his head. Seems the undercover cop made a friend. However, as twitchy and mouthy as Billy acts, deep inside, he's calm and steady. After all, this is what he does. He gets to smoke and drink on duty, cuss up a storm, and plays an integral part of putting dirt-bags like these District Kings in the slammer. AND? He gets a paycheck, health insurance, and a goddamned pension. All that talk about how well the place is armed? That's for Benson and Gordon's benefit. Removing a cigarette, he lights it up and continues eye-balling the place and its inhabitants, content to stand by the Guy With Shotgun for a while.

Meanwhile in the unmarked car, Gordon frowns. "Text dispatch," he says to Benson. "Gonna need a quick and heavy response if this thing blows up." He draws a significantly deep drag from his cigarette, and blows it out through his nostrils to steady his nerves. "Any word from our other man?"

"None," answers Benson, while texting a message on his phone.

Gordon closes his eyes for a moment, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Feels like we're chasing dead ends here..."

All of this doesn't make Darkwing all that happy. The way things are going it was not going to be a good night for anyone. While it's true he loves as a fight as much as the next person, something about the behavior of the people down in the ring just has him on edge. He has a good angle on the cage right now so he does engage the zooming aspects of his mask. He doesn't say anything for now but keeps his hands in the pockets of his duster. He's doing a pretty good job of being casual for now.

(Right. The future. I've heard this story before, it never ends well.)

Another datalink goes into position, though most of Domino's attention is on the crowd, and not those that are front and center. Target identification is important, as is identifying what weapons everyone happens to be packing. The single best way to get a bigger, better weapon past security is to acquire one that's already on the inside. (Nice Ingram there, buddy. Try to keep it topped off for me, okay?)

The way things seem to be headed she's going to be a whole lot less concerned about keeping shots to the non-lethal variety and a whole lot more concerned in putting the bad guys down. One good trigger pull around here will turn this whole place into an armed meat-grinder, no one would ever be able to tell if she's hitting hamstrings or hearts. Good for her, bad for them.

Just her kind of odds.

"Gonna show us the future, think they finally upgraded that piece of shit TV to a flatscreen?" she offhandedly kids with another biker sort nearby. (That's me, blending into the crowd.)

At the mention of trying to get a better view over her comlink, Hawkeye frowns ever so slightly. And tries to work a bit closer. That is as she tries to aim a small hidden camera she may have hidden on her that way to try and get a that view for Oracle.

And yet as the undercover archer does get closer to said cage, she not only frowns, but she actually scowls. But she doesn't speak up regarding that. Not even if the girl does appear to be slightly familiar in a way that she can't quite place right now.

And yet as the corporate big shot starts to put on their 'show' that scowl grows even more pronounced. All though as the suit starts to play their games, Kate does slowly start to reach down towards that crossbow. But it's a bit of a casual movement, as if to somehow reassure her that it's there...

Helena Bertinelli looks at the man in the center ring when he starts doing the announcer thing, and when the cages are being opened she leans to ask Pequena in a low and somewhat bored tone, "Think they're gonna throw that pipsqueak in the ring? Damn I hope not. It'd be a waste of our time." She's far more interested in the still-covered cage, as that continues to be an unquantified variable. And she doesn't like variables she can't quantify. Her eyes flick around to the other people around, but there are way too many people in here for her to pick out and recognize anyone she might know. And again, that's hopefully for the best. "I wish they'd just get this shit over with. I'm getting bored."

There are telescoping lenses in Robin's mask, but he can't get a better look at those cages without giving up his position, which, at this point, he's frankly unwilling to do- especially since there are other agents on the ground with better views. The grate is almost directly above the ring with very little in the way of obstruction between it. You don't get prime real estate and then abandon it without very, very good reason.

He does, however, send a private message to Oracle: -...__.-_...__-__..._--.-._.._-

'Bad feeling about this.'

The men facing Jeanne really don't care what she has to say. The one with the key grabs her and pushes her into the middle of the ring roughly. The ringmaster steps aside. "Let us show you a little demonstration of what can be done with this new technology."

The tarp is torn from the 2nd cage. In it stands a girl with Shelby Knox's face -- her eyes, her hair. (Though it's far shorter than it was before. A close buzz cut.) She wears a simple black body suit and her expression is blank. Her handler pulls the door open. She steps into the ring woodenly and walks slowly toward Jeanne.

"Once you've seen what this can do, you'll all want a piece of it," the ring master promises, moving out of the ring and towards the side where Helena stands. "And our lucky winners here will be the first to get to try the upgrades we're offering here..."

Yeah. That sounds fun, doesn't it?

As she receives a better view of the ring, however, and Jeanne's face, Oracle's eyes widen. She knows the kid, from the Rec center. She doesn't forget faces. And she already ran her identity.

She examines the feeds that Domino puts in place she starts scanning Shelby's hotter signature. "Oh, shit..." she murmurs. She thumbs her com. "People: I think I was right about Shelby. And I think she's being controlled. We need to extract both her and the kid in the ring. Go."

Jeanne for her part seems to only offer token resistance, perhaps it's that she's disoriented, perhaps she's frightened, or maybe she's just a 15 year old girl in a place she really shouldn't be in. When pushed towards the middle of the ring, she looks all around her with wide opened eyes, "you expect me to fight someone?" She asks, her voice rather flat and not timid. but she still seems affected by whatever was used on her to get her into the cage in the first place. The word technology seems to be the only thing that makes her focus a bit better, as if she suddenly took interest in what the ringmaster was saying. But then Jeanne gets to face something else entirely, the girl that was kidnapped from the rec center some time back, she was knocked out that time too! These must be the same creeps, only now Shelby doesn't look to be quite herself.

"You're Shelby, aren't you?" Jeanne asks as the girl approaches her slowly, Jeanne taking note and suddenly shifting to a fighting stance. It may be taken for cute by the thugs around, after all what could weekly karate class offer Jeanne compared to what she's supposed to be facing, but the young girl looks about ready to fend for herself as best she can. "I don't want to fight you Shelby..." Jeanne says, withdrawing a little, letting Shelby make the first move.

"Man, what's with the suits," Billy starts to say to his shotgun buddy. "Always with the suits, trying to be all... 'look at us, and our fancy tech shit'. This would be a whole lot more entertaining if Heisenberg there hat a hat and glasses."

"Fancy tech?" echoes Gordon, frowning at the small radio transceiver that is relaying Billy's dialogue to him.

Billy goes uncharacteristically silent when Shelby Knox, or at least what resembles her, is revealed. He even forgets about the malt liquor in his hand.

At the same time, a second GCPD undercover cop makes a move. He's wearing a black leather trench and black jeans, his hair done in a years-gone-by emo haircut. When Shelby is revealed, he simply turns around and walks away, muttering something under his breath. "Knox. Confirmed."

Gordon darts forward, eyes wide. "Sssshhit!" he curses. (Did Barbara learn such foul language from him?) "Go time, Benson!" As Detective Benson fires the lights and guns the engine, Gordon is already on his radio. "All units, this is Gordon. Move in! Repeat, all units close in! We've got positive ID on the victim. It's gonna be hot down there, riot and SWAT goes in first!"

From other corners of the neighborhood, SWAT vehicles and unmarked vans come out of the woodwork. Their sirens come to life, and the GCPD begins closing in on two of the main entrances into the underworld.

Shrugging off the duster so that his Darkwing costume is now fully visible. "Roger that Oracle." The kid says as he launches into action. He pulls and electroshock batarang out and throws it directly for the the ringmaster. "We'll have to hurry I think." He didn't plan for the police to be there too soon after they started engaging in combat with these guys. This is going to be getting rather messy. Even as he lets go of the batarang, he begins heading for the stage,"Let's get this done quick."

Something..doesn't look right here. Something really doesn't look right. Domino's seen drugged-out people before. She's seen mind-controlled people, she's seen people caught in the throes of artificial intelligence. She's even been caught up in similar situations herself a few times. Seeing what remains of Shelby out there in the ring, she's starting to wonder if there's anything left to save.

(Son of a bitch, what are these guys doing around here?)

The call is officially given. Go. Before anything else can be done Dom nonchalantly reaches into a jacket pocket and pulls out a few dead batteries. Plain, simple AA-sized batteries. These she simply lets roll right off of her gloved fingertips and onto the floor, going wherever they please.

(Armed meat-grinder. All it needs is one good trigger pull.)

When the armed biker thug beside her shifts about where he stands his heel falls upon one of those batteries, throwing it forward while throwing him backward.

Into other people.

With an uncontrolled spray of automatic fire.

The first handful of people fall over in a tangled pile around Domino, blood and shell casings making the floor that much more treacherous of a place for anyone left standing. The batteries are flung elsewhere into the crowd, resetting themselves to start the process anew.

There she stands, completely unharmed. Laughing. "Look at this dumbass! All caught up in the moment!"

And with the word 'Go' that backpack is slung off of Kates Shoulder, before she reaches into it. Does she pull out a gun? A smoke grenade? Some flash bangs?

Odds are she might hanve them in there, but she more importantly has some... Arrows?!?

Yeah. And that lump under her jacket? Turns out that's a collapsible bow that all but falls into her hand and unfolds itself. Said arrow is fired up, towards one of the lights above, to possibly add a little confusion to the mix. That is before she tries to get as close to the ring as possible.

Why? Let's just say that the small quiver on her hip and the mini-crossbow /aren't/ for Kate's use. Thus if she can somehow get them where they need to go...

Helena Bertinelli wrinkles her nose in disgust when Jeanne is 'escorted' into the ring, but then she looks more concerned when Shelby Knox is revealed and she does a VERY good impersonation of someone being controlled by the Cybermen. "Wait, they wanna turn us into THAT? FUCK no." She hopes voicing this sentiment aloud will put Pequena and some of the other cholas on her side, convince them to either help stop this madness or at least get the hell away before shit starts hitting the fans. Frowning, she steps toward the announcer guy as if trying to get a better look at the two young girls in the ring, and seconds after Oracle says 'Go' and Domino's meat-grinder starts up, she snags the announcer in a headlock and pulls him bodily out of the ring. If she's noticed Kate's approach she hasn't acknowledged it yet.

Though not exactly something widely broadcast, Robin has a very personal reason to be here. Shelby Knox is... not a friend of his, exactly. They were friendly, but everyone that knows Tim Drake solely /as/ Tim Drake are merely tools in a years-long game of deception, which is frankly a bit too much like his mentor to be healthy.

Tim acknowledges this, yes.

Still, he was there when she was taken, and he couldn't stop it. Like Batman, he feels a certain sense of responsibility to this city, and one he feels like he's failed. Especially when the thing wearing Shelby Knox's face comes stumbling out of her cage looking very much like she has to get used to operating a human body.

He may be anticipating the worst, here. If there's a chance Shelby can be saved... he'll do anything.

Go.

Pre-placed explosives across the cistern's ceiling go off as cover when Robin blows the grate. Low ordinance, but they provide a stunning backdrop to Robin's cape opening to slow his descent down into the thick of things. His boots absorb most of the impact as he lands, center ring. Noticeably, between Jeanne and Shelby.

"Get back," he tells her- Jeanne, before rounding on Shelby as his staff extends behind his back. Debris from the ceiling showers down around him, and between that painful annoyance and several shuriken he tosses out in rapid fire, he hopes it spares him a moment. "Shelby, I'm here to take you back to your dad."

About a hundred different scenarios were rolling in Jeanne's mind as she was preparing to fend herself against Shelby, but none of them included ceiling explosions, gun shots, mayhem and someone dropping from the ceiling and telling her to get back. still, given the circumstances and how Shelby looks, she's more than willing to cooperate and create a bigger distance between herself and Robin, and by that nature, even further distance between herself and what used to be Shelby Knox. No arguments from her.

Shelby's eyes settle on Jeanne. There's an intense focus to them as they flick over the girl's body, measuring and calculating in a very cold, computer sort of way. She settles into an effective, if loose, responding stance. Then, she moves in with lightning quick strike worthy of a T-900, heedless of the movement in the crowd around them.

When the first gunshots go off, there's a mad scramble. Some people scream and duck. Others reach for their weapons -- knives and guns, of course. Several go down on the batteries, knocking heads and, in a couple of cases, breaking bones. There's a rush for the exit.

The businessmen bunch together, the men with heavy rifles, covering them closely and starting to move them to one of the nearest exits.

Billy Porgan is one of the first to go. His career comes to a blood gushing end thanks to a dozen stray bullets. His 40 drops to the ground and shatters, spilling cheap booze all over. The other undercover cop goes for cover, bringing out a pistol that he brings up near his face. "This place is turning into a blood bath," he reports to the GCPD.

Meanwhile, as the cops close in, the armored types are the first to spill into the sewers, headed for ground zero. The uniformed cops stay behind to form a perimeter, ushering away those who seek to lurk or interfere.

Jim Gordon hops out of the unmarked car, throwing body armor over his upper body, followed in turn by Detective Benson. They are both hanging back to coordinate, for now.

Moving among the gangsters, Darkwing works on beating as many of them as he can to a state of unconsciousness. "I don't think I can get down there. I'll try and clear a path out." He says he uses his bare hands to fight against gangsters. Blue eyes eyes are cold as Darkwing looks around. He's in his element right now though, pure violence. Thankfully the moves that Darkwing is currently using are of the non-lethal variety. "Man. These guys make a group of ninja seem like a coordinated group." Darkwing says seriously as he flattens a gangster.

How awesome is it to watch all of these Gothamites emerging from literally nowhere and everywhere at once! In an instant control of the joint is being wrestled away from the underground and into the hands of ..another..side of the underground. (Hey, it's Gotham.)

Domino can hold her own against a scattering of armed mooks. One of them gets the idea in his head that she pushed his buddy over and comes rushing toward her, scattering brass as he closes in.

He takes an elbow to the face for his effort, the sawed off shotgun twisted around and pulled out of his hands before it gets used as a club, cracking against the head of the fallen mook as that guy tries to right himself. When she comes back around she's got a handful of the shotgunner's leathers, spinning and flipping him around until he, too, ends up on the ground. With a combat boot to the sternum.

(Olé!)

A sawed-off is not a good weapon of choice when dealing with a room packed full of more than plain old goons. Rather than shoot it (which is practically a first for her,) she unscrews a cap and turns it into a pair of short metal clubs, the barrel end quickly getting thrown over the heads of the panicked crowd to catch one of the heavy riflemen square in the throat.

(How's that for non-lethal!)

Are things coming along alright with Shelby? Not her concern! Leave that to the Cowls, this merc's on head-busting detail. Except that there's cops swarming the place. She'd rather not get caught up in that mess. Albinos exit stage left!

And as things continue to get more and more chaotic, Kate continues to push ahead. Between the bullets, the crowd, and well... Everything, she tries to make every step count. As well as every arrow. Because her supply of arrows is a bit limited right now.

But still, as a momentary chance is offered, Hawkeye tries to fire an arrow at the door those 'suits' are headed for. No it's not meant to harm them, but hopefully to cause them to think twice in regards to running. And if she catches one of their suits somehow, so much the better.

But that shot is not meant to be fancy. Especially since her main goal is to get to Helena, and give her some 'goodies'. Especially as all those gunshots (don't let Batman catch you in Gotham Domino!) help ramp things up even more.

All though as the undercover archer gets close enough to see how well Helena is fighting, Kate tries to take a shot of her own at the announcers posterior...

Helena Bertinelli keeps the choke-hold she's got on the announcer guy, which is not as easy as it sounds. Thankfully, the surprise of Robin's abrupt arrival is enough to give her those last few seconds she needs for the guy to finally pass out from oxygen deprivation, and then she's ducking with a surprised curse when an arrow appears in announcer guy's posterior. She looks over toward Kate in shock, then runs at the shorter archer as if to attack her. You know, trying to keep up appearances around Pequena. 'Cause that girl is NOT a good enemy to have.

The Bats and police have a... let's say tenuous relationship. To the point where Robin is doubtful about where they stand at this very moment. He might not have the reputation Batman has, but Robin- any Robin- is a well known associate of him.

Right now, he'd rather avoid getting tangled up in that mess. Little for him to do in the middle of the ring, though, with police closing in fast.

The sudden burst of police activity being registered in his HUD is a distraction. One that nearly costs him a few teeth, judging by the force of the strike that lands squarely on the armored plating of Robin's gauntlet, brought up just in time. "Shelby," he says, but his voice is resigned. There's no plaintive requests for her to listen, for her to 'snap out of it' or the like. This isn't a movie. This is Gotham, where reality is cold and hard. Robin twists his bo around and with a flick of his wrist, engages the tazer end as he drives it at Shelby's side full-force.

He's aiming to incapacitate. A few bruised or broken ribs are the price he's willing to let her pay to have this ended quickly, before it escalates.

It always escalates though, doesn't it?

As Robin engages her, Shelby's attention moves from Jean to the newest Boy Wonder. She twists out of the way as he tries to drive a taser into her side. She's stronger than the average girl. Faster, too. Fast enough to present a serious challenge to the boy. Her eyes have a glassy look to them, but they're focussed on him nonetheless.

Oracle's voice breaks into the police feed. "Commissioner!" she barks, her androgynous digital voice sharp in the earpiece. "This is Oracle of the JLA. Batman and I have operatives in the cistern and are attempting to extract Shelby Knox and one other captive. Pull your men back to a holding position to prevent escape, but do not, I repeat, do not put them in further danger. Your man's right. It is a bloodbath down there. And another few dozen guns won't help." Not when they can camp out at the exits.

She then switches channels and speaks to her people. "I do not want you people dying down there. Darkwing, I'm feeding an alternate route into your HUD. Clear that way. Hawkeye, get that com and weapon to Huntress. Then, get the kid out. Her name's Jeanne. Domino, those flash charges you planted? Prepare to detonate. I want to stun the lot. And if any of you can find a way to trap those mooks in suits, do it. But, they're not the priority. I've got IDs on them. We can round 'em up later."

Pequena looks at the other 'champions' as all hell breaks loose. "You heard the woman!" she snaps, referring to Helena, in fact. "You wanna end up like robogirl over there? I sure as fuck don't! Grab the suits! They're our ticket outta here!"

Meanwhile, the announcer ends up passing out from Helena's choke-hold, leaving her free to engage elsewhere.

Jeanne seems to get stunned when Shelby sets after her, only to go after Robin with his intervention. That speed was unnatural, and certainly not how fast Shelby should be able to move. Some may take it for fear, but Jeanne is actually astounded by the implications of what chemical concoction or otherwise these guys injected into Shelby to introduce such a feat. There's of course a serious side-effect, considering Shelby handles like a zombie when not in attack mode. But there's scientific potential there.

As Robin is doing the fighting that the goons were clearly planning for her, which Jeanne is not sure if she would have survived, she asks Robin, "thank you for helping me. Do you need assistance? Or should I try to get out of here alive? I don't want to leave you alone with a monster..." she's still keeping a safe distance like she was told, but is willing to try and land a hand, in case two on one would bring better odds.

There is momentary confusion as Oracle invades the GCPD bands. Many of the uniformed cops falter, but the armored types keep moving in. As for Jim Gordon? He stares at his radio for a moment, blinking owlishly at the message.

"JLA..." he mutters, but soon enough, the realization kicks in. He looks up, eyes wide. "Pull out!" he shouts, and before any of his Lieutenants can argue, he's running along the perimeter, crying out his orders with ferocity. "I said pull out! Pull all the men back and form a perimeter. Now!!"

The Commissioner's demands are obeyed, if not with a brief moment's hesitation. The advancing SWAT teams begin to double back, drawing out of the sewers one after the other.

Using every skill that he has, Darkwing starts clearing the alternate route of anything that would impede them getting out of this hell hole. "I'm on it." He says as he works on it. There are a few gangsters with broken limbs. "Robin, are you having any luck?" He asks not able to really pay attention to what the Boy Wonder is doing. It ALMOST sounds like he's concerned for him. Has to be fake right?

Alright, so Domino won't be able to make a completely clean break here. On the upside, she gets to make something else explode! Plus, she can do it remotely, which means that she doesn't have to be here when she triggers the charges.

Which means getting away from the cops. While they're confused and disorganized. Timing!

Another goon gets taken out as she goes, driving his face down to her knee then shoving him aside, broken nose and all, while swiping the gun from his hands and placing it into her own. Just so she doesn't have to leave the place empty-handed.

"Isn't it supposed to be lights then action?" she radios back while popping open the safety cap on her remote det trigger of the evening. Just to be a brat. "Got your parting gift on-call, Shodan."

Oracle (emit), Jeanne Foucault, Jim Gordon, Darkwing, Domino, Hawkeye,

Huntress, Robin.

It's probably a good thing that Babs made that call to The Commissioner.

It might be an even better thing that the call can be backed up even more by someone already on the inside. For odds are Hawkeye... Not The Avengers Hawkeye, since that one is a guy, is not only doing what she can to fire arrows and kick butt, but odds are she might have her JLA ID on her as well.

All though as Helena rushes towards Kate, the shorter woman tries jump to the side in a roll, thus dropping onto the ground for a moment. As she does her bow and free hand just happen to brush against the crossbow and the quiver full of bolts, dropping them onto the ground as well. That is before she springs up back onto her feet as she reaches for an arrow.

And yes, in that quiver there is a com for Helena too if/when she picks them up!

But anyways, if she gets a shot at 'RoboShelby' Hawkeye will take it. And /maybe/ it'll give Jeanne a chance to fall back a little?

Helena Bertinelli is THIS close to tackling the smaller brunette with a bow (sorry, Kate, Hawkeye's a guy in Helena's brain) when she trips over a AA BATTERY of all things. She hits the ground with a surprised huff, but in the perfect spot to see the small crossbow and quiver left there presumably for her by the other archer. She spares only a second's worth of a glance for Kate, then pushes herself to her feet again with the new weapon in hand. She feels the tiny comm unit and slips it into her ear while watching Pequena and the other cholas making a beeline for the suits, then bolts after them. "HAL, this party sucks."

One of Robin's most valuable skills is self-awareness. Batman is very insistent on knowing your strengths and limitations. Tim knows that he started out too late to ever have the kind of flexibility and reach Dick has. He doesn't have the same brutal punishing power that Jason did.

What he does have, though, is a very reliable brain. One that can keep chugging away at solutions even as he's being wailed on. Whatever they've done to Shelby, he knows that she's nearly got him outmatched, here. He rates his chances at being able to take her down fairly high, but it would require time. Time that they don't have. Every second down here puts the team, puts himself, puts Shelby and the other captive at risk.

The other captive. "Stay down, we're getting you-" a pause as the armor plating of his suit doesn't absorb nearly enough of the force behind a nasty right hook that drives the air out of him momentarily, and then, "-out of here." Then, to Darkwing, as he brings up his staff to block a haymaker, "Workingonit."

He dodges under Shelby's arm as she throws a wide swing. His brain's still going. "Oracle, clear my immediate area."

"Aw, c'mon, H," Oracle says, as Helena's com comes online. "I brought you party favors and everything." She shakes her head, and smiles grimly. "Never mind. Just grab the kid near the ring and head north. Darkwing's clearing a path." A beat. "That goes for all of you. Disengage. I repeat. Disengage. We need Shelby and Jeanne. Everyone else can wait. You have 20 seconds before Domino sets off those charges. Got that, Dom? 20 on my mark... Robin, you have 10 to do what you need to do. And... MARK."

T-20... 19... 18...

By this point, there are people emerging from the various entrances and right into the waiting arms of the police. The only people left below ground, aside from Oracle's people, are either dead, dying, or too injured to move. Or they've disappeared into alternate escape routes.

"Getting me out of here sounds like a sensible plan to me, Mister," Jeanne says while observing Robin contending with Shelby who is clearly not herself. This is steroids taken to 11, with every bit of expected side-effect being not good. Jeanne just moves to stay out of the way as the two fight, waiting for Robin to tell her when to move out. She'd rather like to be out of here and back in the world where she's not surrounded by mayhem, all so she can continue her search to get right back into mayhem. But nobody needs to know about that just yet.

The Gotham Police spring into action with the first of those who emerge from the underworld. They are neither suspect or victims in the eyes of the police, but per the Commissioner's orders, they are all to be treated as witnesses and victims where appropriate. There's a herculean amount of questioning that needs to take place, and many of these people are injured. The paramedics will be busy.

Unfortunately, there are some Gotham cops who don't see eye to eye with Jim Gordon's worldview.

While Commissioner Gordon paces back and forth among one of the police blockades, a scowl has formed on his face. He's going to get an indeterminate amount of heat over pulling the operation in favor of letting the JLA do their work, in spite of how legal the move might have been. Gotham's corrupt had people everywhere... in the courts, in the county government, and even in his own police battalion. In fact, he's fortunate enough to witness one crooked cop pulling out a club, and bashing one of the escaping thugs in the knee.

"HEY!"

Gordon runs over at full force, eyes bristling, face red with anger. He grapples the cop from behind and throws him to the ground with a surprising amount of zeal. "What the HELL do you think you're doing?" he shouts at the cops face, then motions toward a nearby officer. "Detain him! I won't have this kind of bullshit going down on my watch!"

Turning away, Gordon walks over toward the downed thug, offering a hand. "You alright, son?" he asks. "You should know better than to hang around in places like this. Come on, let's get you to an ambulance."

"Tt." Darkwing is the only response to Tim's working on it. He's not interested in Tim's excuses for how long he's taking. The somewhat sadistic member of the Bat family finally gets the escape route that he was told to open clear for now. "Let's just go. The police want in here so they can lock some of these idiots up until their lawyers get them released." Cynical? Naaaaaah. Not Darkwing. He's working his way out the escape route, and then he hears a count down beginning. Countdowns usually lead to explosions and explosions lead to pain. He's fond of inflicting pain not receiving it. "Get a move on Robin."

"Twenty whole seconds?" Domino mock-complains back into the mic, "But that's like forever!"

(They may not be familiar with your sarcasm, Dom.)

"Copy, mark on twenty." That'll give her plenty of time to find somewhere better to hide. And to watch the fireworks. And to admire the new weapons she just took off of these fight club idiots. It worked out in her favor that there's so many cowled vigilantes around here tonight, no one paid this biker bitch much mind. It's a fortunate thing, she does rather tire of getting shot.

And as the call to retreat comes in, Hawkeye does just that. But considering where she ended up, it may take her a bit to get out. But she starts moving as the twenty second mark is given.

And she doesn't stop.

Along the way, she may even try to help the first person she comes across who's injured and can't get out on their own. But otherwise...

She trusts someone to get Jeanne free. And considering his reputation, Robin should be able to get Shelby free in time.

...Hopefully.

Helena Bertinelli stops dead, all but skidding on her boots as she turns and dashes back toward Robin and Jeanne. The girl's shorter than her, and comparatively a string bean, so this will hopefully work. Tossing her crossbow into her left hand, she barely slows down as she reaches Jeanne, throws out an arm to hook around the girl's torso, and keeps going, hopefully pulling the girl over the fight ring's barrier wall in a secure enough hold to keep an grip on her all the way to the escape route that Darkwing has cleared. Please let this work.

Ten seconds.

Robin's worked with less. Frankly, in comparison to Batman's usual barking orders, Oracle is downright lenient. Easy-going, even. "Copy," he responds, and as he sees Huntress dart past out of the corner of his eyes, he knows this is it.

He throws himself out of the way of another potentially rib-cracking strike, tucking down into a quick roll. The staff is replaced by something else from his utility belt, something else that comes spilling out of his hands as he rights himself into a crouch. The hiss of compressed gas is loud across the coms as the ring fills rapidly with it.

Several seconds tick by, and then there's a distinctive thump followed by an entirely different sort of hiss that will be familiar to most Bat-types.

Robin fires his grappling gun up at the ceiling and emerges from the gas cloud, Shelby's unconscious body thrown over his shoulder and a mask covering his mouth.

"I've got her," is all he says as he makes his way out through the tunnel that brought him in.

Jeanne doesn't notice Helena until she's already swinging at her, "Mister, I think," she starts before getting taken along for a swinging ride, "wow!" She snaps, not expecting this impromptu ride, as she latches on to Helena to make herself as easy to carry as possible. She doesn't know exactly how it worked out, but she's just glad to be out of there alive, in her own calculations there weren't too many permutations of that scenario that allows her to get out with her status counting is living.

And, as the last of her people, and the girls they've rescued disappear through the nearest exit, Oracle has Domino trigger the flash charges. There's a lot of light and sound, but the confusion is actually minimal, only because the people left behind aren't in a lot of shape to respond.

The result, however, is that the Birds and Bats are able to go one way while the cops are left to clean up the mess. Oracle sends a message to the commissioner once more. "The cistern is clear, Commissioner. You can send in the clean-up crews."

To her teammates: "Bring Shelby and Jeanne back to the safehouse on Eisenhower. We need to get a look at Shelby and make sure Jeanne's in one piece before we send her home. Good work people. Thanks."