2015.01.18 - Blüdbath: Part 1

Time: Around Midnight

Place: Blüdhaven, Meat-Packing District

"When I look out at the soldiers I see before me, I can't help but feel proud. You have all proven yourself to be as committed as you are talented. There's not one of you that I wouldn't be glad to have by my side when I put my plans in motion and create My Vision for the future of this city."

Over the past few weeks, men in orange and blue masks have been terrorizing the city of Blüdhaven. Killing both policemen and gang members (mostly a question of semantics in Blüdhaven...) with equal ferocity, they have left behind an impressive trail of carnage. So far, however, the deaths have included surprisingly few members of Blüdhaven's civilian population.

With every slaying, the number of mercenaries in Deathstroke's merry little band have grown, until they now number nearly a hundred. All of these soldiers are assembled today in a warehouse in Blüdhaven's meat-packing district, all dressed in their full combat regalia.

Standing above them on the top of a forklift, Deathstroke the Terminator addresses his troops. Behind him are a few of his allies, and members of his organization that have already proven their worth. They are a more motley crew, compared to the more uniform mercenaries standing in formation in front of Deathstroke. Of special note are the black-clothed members of the League of Assassins, who seem to mostly just be here to observe.

"But, unfortunately, I am unable to take all of you into the future with me. I have only enough room in My Vision for twenty of you."

The mercenaries immediately start to get nervous.

"I have decided to let evolution decide for me. The last twenty men standing will receive the Gift that I promised. The rest of you will be disposed of in one of these meat grinders."

One of those 'allies' is dressed in all black, the old Batgirl costume donned as always, the cowl and cape secured into place. She seems to be relaxed despite Slade's words, his speech barely getting a response from the near-mute girl who is simply taking it all in stride.

When he mentions the Gift and how it is to be claimed she gestures towards herself and then the throng that stands before them, asking if she needs to join in the fray although it is probably safe to assume that if he allows her to take part then less than twenty men will emerge from it.

Blur was going to get in trouble, she knew it. She had snuck out of the house after hearing that Batman was up to something important. She wanted to know what he was up to. And the speedster was tired of not being able to do anything exciting - she wanted to beat up bad guys, not stay home and study! So, leaving a note that said only, "Be back later, I'll be okay" the speedster put on her costume and raced out to Bludhaven, hoping to watch her Uncle kick ass. And maybe kick some of her own! She easily sneaked in - her plain bodysuit really helped with that. Once inside, she makes her unobtrusive way to where the League of Assassin members are standing - she doesn't know who they are, but she figures they're safer to stand next to than the mercs. She blanches slightly at the meat grinder mention - that sounded gross! She stays as unobtrusive as possible.

She spots Cassandra, and blinks. Oh, a Bat! She felt a lot safer, now. She felt she could trust the Bat-suit wearing woman. After all, Bats were good in her mind. Well, word was passed from mouth to ear, ear to mouth in a steady stream. The rumor that Deathstroke has somebody targeted has everyone nervous. So much so that local gangs were even hired out as bodyguards. Tynan has heard the rumors, but when it comes to Deathstroke, the woman does not even consider taking any type of contract opposite of him. However...the chance to see the Legend work his craft comes rarely. So, Ty got her gear from the harbor, and buckled up. Dark Caliber. A Mercenary from Europe has tailed one of the Mercs with the Deathstroke mask for most of the night. Her outfit? A simple midnight blue military fatigue set with Dragonskin weaving and Kalver plates. Light enough for the woman, but got enough armor that a stray bullet isn't going to hurt...much, unless Ty is stupid enough to stand in front of a machine gun for longer the a second...She has a midnight blue facemask with a night vision monocle set over her left eye. This gives the world a half green half normal view. On her hip, a Celtic long sword, and under her shoulders in shoulder harnesses, two colt 1911M3As. She follows the person in, and then starts to get herself into a hiding spot, watching whats going on. If something were to spill on her head...She would almost have the same mask as everyone else in this room...She pauses, and looks around. She really hopes for her sake and others that that doesn't happen...Then again...It's Deathstroke...The things he could teach her!

From across the alleyway, Jason Todd is waiting. He is concealed from view under a heavy blanket draped over him to make him look just like a piece of concrete. He spies through the high windows using a spotting scope with light gathering lenses. He glances from face to face, person to person. He stops when he gets to Cassandra. Jason takes a deep breath. "This should be interesting," He growls under his breath. He slowly inches his way out from underneath the blanket, and moves to the roof edge. He waits like a coiled spring, hands reaching into his jacket.

Batman had been tracking the mercenaries for weeks. One had been captures and extensively interrogated before getting sent to police custody. They didn't survive the night. The Dark Knight wasn't surprised over such a contingency plan. Men like Deathstroke, Ra's Ah Ghul, and others that saw themselves as generals made sure their soldiers were either loyal to a fault or completely expendable. Looking down at a platform in the cave Batman pressed a button. He was already dressed for action in the grey bodysuit with the tri-weave, the black gauntlets and boots that matched the cape. All he had to do was pull back the cowl on. After the button was pressed hydraulics echoed in the cave as a new Batmobile was raised into the light. Code named: Black Beauty, after the 60s show Green Hornet, the monstrosity of a car that looked ready.

The thing was black from bumper to bumper, it had four big tires that looked like they could have ripped through concrete. The body of the car was designed to take an "X" shape when making sharp turns. Each wheel was on its own set of suspension and hydraulics to maintain sharp turning despire the car's big size and momentum.

Since the killings were public it created a sense of urgency. Stealth would have been tonight's tactic, but time didn't allow that. Getting into the two seater vehicle Batman let the dome cover him. Pressing a few buttons the engine roared to life. Dick would have made a comment of, "Listen to that kitty purr" if he were riding shotgun. Suddenly the vehicle was off and heading to Bludhaven.

Nine LED twelve cut through the darkness, Three were between the two front tires. Three more were parallel to one another on the front.

The trip to Bludhaven didn't take long. Anyone looking from above would have seen the vehicle heading toward the meat plant. Suddenly the vehicle pushed through the first entryway it found. Turning suddenly Batman stopped the vehicle. As it turned suddenly people witnessed something pop out of the back it looked like an anti-tank canon, military grade, the kind that would have been found on jeeps except this far exceeded anything on a battlefield. Taking aim Batman fired the shot toward the forklift Slade was standing on. It was a rubber bullet, but the velocity would have caused a huge dent in the forklift to say the least.

Only two words lingered on Batman's mind. They were, "Knock. Knock." Senseless killing was a quick way to get Batman's attention and anger him.

Bludhaven, it is a town so nice, New Jersey has Bludhaven jokes. It is to this place that Doctor Karla Sofen has come. The red pumps hit the ground outside guiding long black hosed legs as Karla moves to stand like she was expecting a red carpet to greet her. She wears a Juicy Couture Trench Coat in navy for the moment, very noire, you see.

A deep breath, cough, "Yuck.. Gah.." A red silk is drawn by a gloved hand up to her face briefly, then she starts towards the door to the factory. The other hand draws a blue legal backed paper folded up to ride in her free hand as she starts getting used to the meat-packinge atmosphere. The heels shift as she walks, the action mostly obscured by the length of the coat, red pimps become thigh high patent leather boots. Unless she is stopped she will head straight up to the warehouse doors and knock. "Marvel here, officer of the watch show me on site in Bludhaven." She reports on the encoded line.

For a second, it looks as if the mercenaries are waiting to see if this is all some sort of elaborate joke. But that hope quickly dies out when Deathstroke gives Batgirl an approving nod. If she's about to join the fray, it's going to get bloody fast.

The more alert mercenaries react quickly, and begin drawing whatever their personal weapons are. A lot of UMPs and AR-15s, but there are more exotic weapons to be found as well. One woman is carrying two rocket launchers like they were pistols. One guy only has a giant meat cleaver.

The rocket launcher woman wears a t-shirt that says 'Tinky Winky: 2016.' The meat cleaver guy wears an apron that says 'Kiss the Cook.'

Shots quickly ring out, coinciding neatly with the arrival of the Batmobile. Already, the numbers are starting to shrink as the mercenaries fire their weapons and look for cover.

The guy with the meat cleaver chops somebody's head off and holds it up in the air while reciting the 'Shepherd's Psalm.'

So intent is Deathstroke on watching the proceedings that he's taken by surprise when the Batmobile bursts into the warehouse. It's all he can do to leap from the forklift as it gets sent flying by the concussive force. He manages to stick the landing pretty gracefully, so there's not really much harm done. Unfortunately, this means that some of his mercenaries think that he is joining the fray. So some shots are fired in his direction.

Pressing a button on his wrist, his helmet amplifies his voice in a bullhorn-like manner.

"New Bonus Objective! Whoever brings me the Bat-Man's head will be given two million dollars and a promotion!"

It doesn't take much imagination to figure out how the mercenaries respond.

Batgirl is a bit distracted from getting involved as she sees someone who seems to stick out just a little too much to be part of the League, it causing Cass to stop in her approach of Slade's men to look at them. She points to the petite figure as if calling them out, almost about to say something during one of those few times words might come easily to her, but then everything goes all tits up thanks to the explosions.

The long cape of Cass' flutters as she dives out of the way of some flying debris, barely missing being hit by a huge splintered piece of crate, that causing her to silently 'sigh' in relief once she realizes she's fine. A modified batarang is pulled from her belt - this one sharpened to almost razor sharpness - and held in hand, the young killer waiting for the time where an attack of opportunity presents itself.

Violence doesn't phase Blur; she grew up in the bad part of Gotham after all. So she only flinches a bit, until the rockets start coming. When Batgirl pointys at her, she tilts her head curiously, about to ask her something - and then explosions. "Eeek!" The young speedster zips away, losing sight of Batgirl. "Well crap, oh well. Smash time!" She's careful though, to avoid walking in front of the Batmobile - if Bats didn't see here, that's be just grand. She starts slamming into mercs with all the finesse of a running bull, relying on speed and surprise to cause trouble. She lets out a giggle; she had forgotten how fun this was! "Can;'t catch me, can't catch me~! Ty blinks a few times, and then when things go to hell, the woman just smiles. "Bat-man? And Deathstroke? And all the shiny toys?! Need to pick up some new gear that I lost on the way over.", she says with a smile. Then Oracle speaks in her ear. The woman tempers herself. Its not smart to crash a party to piss people off. Especially your soon to be boss. Either way though...There's too many...exotics here. Weapons that Ty will not be able to get her hands on anytime soon. A Merc with a Gepard GM6 Lynx is setting himself up to get a shot on the Bat. Too bad for him that Ty has her eyes set on that AMR... Dark Caliber rolls out of her hiding spot, rushing forward while drawing her two colts. The woman shows the mark of a professional, hesitating a second to get a better aim then a snap shot, and doubletaps the merc with both pistols. Two to the head, two to the body. She runs over, and slides behind some cover near where the Merc is, in case she missed, while watching her surroundings. When another merc lines her up, she takes a couple of shots at him to get him to dive back into some cover. Getting that Lynx is going to be hell, especially if Slade decides he wants it...Ty knows she's got to act fast...

"I try go loud and he wants to sneak around," Jason says with a growl. "I try to be quiet, and he bring and Anti-Tank gun. Is it so bad to just co-ordinate for once?" The Red Hood launches himself like a human torpedo as he flies through the window with a crash. "IT'S TIME TO DANCE ASSHOLES!" He yells as loud as he can, the sound of excitement starting to creep into his voice. "I BROUGHT THE PARTY FAVORS!" As he tumbles through the air, at least 5 flashbangs fall and ring as they hit the ground. He lands as they explode, and he comes up with a combat shotgun. He unloads into the first merc he sees. Don't worry Batman, Jason is only using non-lethal slow moving slugs. Not enough to kill, but they deliver quite the punch.

Seeing Mercenaries climb on his car caused Batman to cause an electrical surge to run through the vehicle rendering them useless. The hood opened up and Batman slipped out. Heading to shadows immediately, the door closed before anyone was able to enter the car. Once inside the shadows he readied three batarangs. Popping out of the darkness he struck three people. The batarang bit into the hands of three men holding guns. Moving forward Batman was a flurry blows and counters. He wondered how only a small group of them were going to neutralize a hundred people. Well, it was probably more like eighty now.

Two million dollars. Karla hesitates a moment. That's really not a bad amount, for a vigilante. The trench falls away, and the mask forms about her eyes on simple tradition. By the time the coat hits the ground, it is Ms. Marvel that lifts an elegant 'stripper boot' as some call it to kick and launch the door inwards about a dozen feet explosively.

Karla taps her ear piece quickly as she moves in and zooms up clear the door towards the rafters. "Agent Sofen to HQ, on site, Bludhaven. Situation Normal: Alpha Foxtrot Uniform. Proceeding." Then she starts to get her berringings. One guy climbing up for a clear fire point is casually kicked into the fray, then she takes his crate to chunk to the middle of the room.

Fortunately for Dark Caliber, Deathstroke already has quite an impressive collection of sniper rifles. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, Deathstroke already has quite an impressive collection of sniper rifles. For now, he seems content to return fire in Batman's general direction with a pair of somewhat worn-looking (but well cared for) H&K MP7A1s.

The mercenaries are all doing their best to survive this massacre, but the strategies vary immensely. Some are going after each other. Some are going after Batman. Some are going after the ones going after Batman. But a few of them are working together, showing both true flashes of ingenuity and a capacity for multilayered thinking.

Those with the skill-set have taken up sniping positions. They focus predominantly on the most threatening-looking targets, but some of them are actually killing off anyone who gets knocked out or otherwise incapacitated. Anyone who gets knocked out effectively has a death sentence. Slade couldn't be more proud of their mercilessness.

One of the snipers calls out to the group "We've got more longjohns! I think it's Dr Marvel!"

With his voice amplified, Slade calls out instructions to the group. "If she's wearing lingerie to a gunfight it probably means she's bullet-proof. Switch to armor-piercing rounds and explosives, concentrate your fire on the longjohns!"

One of his SMGs runs out of ammo, right on schedule. He quickly reloads it, and puts it back in its holster while he starts rummaging around for grenades.

Standing quickly, Cass throws one Batarang towards her former mentor, the dangerous weapon winged towards Batman aimed for his arm. It might not pierce his armor but it'll undoubtedly catch his attention if it hits and even if ti doesn't it still might telegraph her intentions.

The concussive flash-bangs get her attention as well but for now Cassandra focuses on Bruce, Jason being someone she'll focus on later, assuming the fight is going on then. A quick glance is given to Deathstroke while she goes on the move, Tynan, Blur and Karla left for Slade and his men, her focus temporarily on those she once aligned with.

Blur is having entirely too much fun sending mercs to the ground. Between zipping through bullets and avoiding getting grabbed, she was getting quite a workout. She's lost sight of Batman in the confusion, and really hopes he doesn't spot her. After all, she was breaking every rule practically. She dashes into a dark corner to catch her breath, and to get her bearings. "I should go for the guys on top." she murmurs to herself as she steadies her breathing. "Here we go!" The young speedster dashes out again, reckless but not too careless, trying to find the snipers. The first one she finds, she goes after his kneecaps, and then kicks the gun.

Dark smiles to herself when Slade doesn't go for the GM-6. She rolls out, and makes a dash for it. The woman dives, and rolls grabbing the weapon, and coming up into a firing position. Ty does a quick scan of the area, and targets Miss Rockets. There's not even a second of hesitation as she pulls the trigger. The recoil hammers into her shoulder, causing the woman to wince, but it shouldn't effect the aim too much. The .50 cal should find its mark easy enough. And hopefully there's something big and metallic behind the woman to stop the bullet after it hits. Dark just smiles to herself, as she grabs the shoulder harness, and slings the weapon onto her back as she heads back to some cover.

Taking a similar tactic to Blur, Jason makes a straight bee line for one of the entrenched groups who are using sniper positions. With a hop, skip, and jump, the Red Hood comes down into their midst. "Copy Oracle," He says quietly. He unloads a one handed shot into one merc while his right hand draws a wicked looking combat knife. "HEY!" He shouts, using the knife to cleave straight through another sniper's weapon. "NO ONE LIKES SPAWN CAMPERS!" He delivers a kick to the man's knee causing the kneecap to come out the other side of the man's leg.

Feeling that batarang pierce the armor Batman pulled it out and looked at Cassandra. His eyes narrowed. Apparently things had changed between the two. Going in close Batman played it on the defense. When the opening presented itself he ripped the Bat from her costume growling, "You're not worthy." Keeping the fight on Cassandra Batman kept his eyes and ears opened for what was going on around him. Suddenly Slade grabbed those twins MP7A1s.

Disengaging from Cassandra Batman went for cover. Bullets started to bite into the giant crate he hid behind. Yes he was pinned down at the moment. Cassandra could have lured him into Slade's fire. "That was really rude!" Karla scowls at the announcement they need more appropriate weapons to shoot her with. A quick scan to the most impressive team work group and fire power that seems to be paying attention to her, then fist up and her flight surges her up and straight through the roof with a smash.

Once out of the building, Karla flies approximately to the location of the group she selected. Her hand extends and she point, a powerful beam of energy fires into the roof above the group. A flick of the wrist makes a rough circle over about three meters the roof. Then she just lets gravity do its thing before zooming back in.

Karla takes aim at the next group of anybody with weapons bigger than a 9mm and unleases the Kree hard light beams zooming and darting and firing. Then Ms Marvel phases insubstantial reassess the fight and figure her next move out from a good clear vantage point.

Slade's forces are rapidly depleting. This isn't worrisome, as it was all part of the plan. However, he's starting to lose too many. With the reinforcements from the superhero community, it's likely that twenty mercenaries won't be enough to win the battle, or keep themselves out of jail. It's time for him to take a more active role in the fight.

From his covered position, Deathstroke tosses three specially-designed plasma grenades at the Batmobile with his left hand while providing cover fire with the MP7 in his right hand. Take out the heavy artillery first, then the personnel. Classic infantry tactics.

From her position behind a hastily-constructed stack of dead, heavily-armored bodies, Rocket Launcher Girl fires both rockets at once toward the flying Ms. Marvel. She's apparently of the same mind as Slade, taking out the heavy artillery first. Unfortunately for her, Dark Caliber had the same idea, and Rocket Launcher Girl meets her demise courtesy of a .50 caliber shot to the head. There's not much head left after that.

The Meat Cleaver Guy, however, is more interested in fighting up close and personal. Which is why he leaps from the top of a scaffolding, leaving behind three headless corpses. He lands almost on top of the Red Hood, and howls barbarically.

Apparently Slade has done some of his recruiting at Arkham...

"Batgirl! I hate to call in a favor, but I'm going to need your Assassins to give us a hand." Slade's voice is calm, but it's clear that he's not as sure of the outcome of this battle anymore.

The bat-symbol probably isn't the easiest thing to rip off of the suit Cassandra wears but it eventually gives, the kevlar thread only able to take so much before it gives away. It leaves a gaping hole in the upper part of that armored garment, her modesty kept intact thanks to a thin top worn under it, leaving her vulnerable to chest shots. Gritting her teeth, she dashes for cover, not daring to risk getting shot at.

Slade's shout has her head turning and a quick, very abrupt up-nod before, with a gesture, she orders her men forward. Close to fifty well trained assassins rush forth, some going for Jason, some for the Bat himself and the others seeking to occupy the three female heroes, some bearing weapons and others willing to meet the intruders with nothing but fists and feet. It's suddenly become a Hong Kong martial arts movie!

Blur grimaces as one of the mercs gets a lucky pistol whip at her before she can knock him out. She rubs her cheek, tasting blood in her mouth. She spits out a tooth into her hand, wincing. "Oh boy..." She sticks the tooth down the front of her jumpsuit, before looking around. She spots the new group, and narrows her eyes. "I don't like them." she mutters to herself, before blurring into action again, going after a blade wielding Assassin. "Can I borrow this? Thanks!" She grabs onto the hilt and smashes it into the man's nose, hard.

Well, Dark's shot rang true, but not in time. The woman looks down at her pistols, before opening up a rift, and tossing them in. "Ammo's dry.", she mutters. She reaches up to her shoulder, and with a grunt pulls the plate in her shoulder out a little bit. She looks at the Assassins coming in, and finds three of them coming after her. She finds herself being attacked from all sides as the three team up against her.

Its about after the fourth rush Ty gets pissed, and grabs the Assassin. "...Lad...I get paid by the amount of arses I kick. But you...You just made my **** list.", she tells before going into an shoulder lock. She kicks the one rushing her in the gut, and flips over, drop kicking the other. She rides the first assassin down into the ground, and snaps his collarbone while driving his head into the ground with her knee. She finds a discarded 9mm, and pops a shot at the two when they try to come to save their assassin friend. "As for you...You get to live so I can kick your arse again...", she growls at the one on the ground. Not that he can hear her...

Jason Todd rolls back away from the big growler. He takes a quick look around attempting to appraise the situation. Big ugly on one side, and Assassins on the other. "...And if this be the day I die, oh Lord," Jason intones almost meditatively. "Let it be amongst a pile of my enemy's dead."

Jason charges toward the big man with the cleaver with an almost feral roar. He drops at the last minute, attempting to slide between the man's legs. He slashes at Cleaver's knee, attempting to put the man out of the fight, while he points the shotgun toward the Assassin's and unleashing hell.

One, two, three plasma grenades went to the Batmobile with the codename blackbeauty. Explosions followed suit punching giant holes into the vehicle. Looking over the crate Batman's eyes narrowed. He had yet to break the seat in and it was going to need months worth of repairs. The the assassin's came into Batman lept at one pinning them down. Disarming them of kali-sticks, Batman twirled them for a moment. Another assassin got a face full of Kali. The meeting of bone and metal caused a sickening "Crack!" White flecks went across the floor. When the fight was over people were bound to find those teeth Batman just freed from the assassin's jaw. Another shot was blocked and he created a flurry of blows before discarding the sticks. With the gauntlets were ready for the next wave. Weapons were blocked with "clangs!" before Batman sliced into arms and legs. Someone wasn't playing nice today.

Karla watches with a frown as the panzerfaust rockets hurtle towards and then through her body. She points at the woman and frowns when she is no more suddenly, though there is a little two finger salute offered to Tyran. The explosions sound, likely on more ceiling against the roof behind her. Karla spins about, watching the roof add to the debris hurtling towards the ground.

Assassins, why does Batgirl have assassins? Correction, former Batgirl. Ms. Marvel's attention moves to the floor and she descends with the cover. Then she becomes substantial again once one of the men shooting at her nearby drops his magazine for a fresh one. Solid again, Karla is on him, placing the assassin in a choke hold and then squeezing till the crunchy sounds before releasing.

Still assassins get their lucky moments, and a nearby grenade lands. Before Sofen can fully clear blast radius, the following explosion slams her backwards and she smashes into a packing crate. A series complaints issue forth before she smashes out the other side, hands wiping and shaking the hamburger meat off of her and out of her hair. "Not Happy." She announces.

The noise that the Meat Cleaver guy makes as his tendons are sliced can perhaps best be described as 'unnatural.' However, although he's clearly injured, you wouldn't know it by his expression. As he shrieks in ungodly wail at the top of his lungs, his face spreads into a perverse grin. It's tough to tell for certain on a face like his, but he almost looks aroused.

Turning around as quickly as he can with a damaged leg, the Meat Cleaver Guy chases after Red Hood like some sort of shambling Jason Vorhees knockoff. He swings his meat cleaver wildly at anything that gets in his way, like a demonically-possessed man who is having an epileptic episode while tripping on street-grade crack.

Having sent multiple magazines worth of ammunition in Batman's general direction, and having tossed grenades at his ride, Deathstroke decides to switch to some heavier-duty weaponry. Replacing the MP7 in its holster, he reaches behind him to get The Big Gun. Of course, for Deathstroke The Big Gun is an over sized broadsword that is engineered to such exacting specifications that it almost looks like it's from the future.

Pulling the broadsword from its sheath, he leaps from his covered position and streaks across the room at inhuman speeds. Deflecting any stray bullets that get in his way with the broadsword, he makes his way straight for the recently meat-covered Ms. Marvel.

"Start falling back! I'll cover the retreat!"

Cass is more than happy to get out of here, especially when she looks down and notices a big bloody cut across her chest from where something she didn't even notice grazed her. That gets her to grumble under her breath but she doesn't stick around to look for a bandage to slap over it.

A shrill series of whistles is given, her way of directing her 'minions', those still able to fight doing so to keep Cassandra and Slade safe. One look over her shoulder has her giving Jason and Batman both a smirk from under her mask but soon she's running, first in Slade's direction and then towards the wherever they're going to be exiting the building from.

Blur sails through the next few Assassins, now using the stolen blade to slice at arms and legs, not really taking care to avoid possibly fatal injuries. As long as they didn't die right away, it wouldn't bother her. It would bother Batman, but she wasn't telling him anything about going out without permission. She spits out some more blood, rubbing her mouth. Her jaw hurt, a lot. She breathes a sigh of relief when she hears the retreat order called - she was starting to tire out. She finds a dark hide-away to crouch down in, gasping for air. Dark watches as they start to retreat. She winces a bit, but summons a rift, and pulls out one of her colts and a clip of ammo. She reloads while moving cautiously forward, and takes a few more shots as they retreat. After they go, the woman goes into a crouch, watching while keeping cover in case its a feint. Of course, she doesn't know anyone at all here, save for Barbara's boyfriend, so she's going to wait and see what happens now that most of the chaos has ended.

"10-4" the Red Hood says into his radio. Jason howls his own challenge back at the charging man. Once again he goes in for the headstrong charge as well, but instead of dropping down, the Red Hood goes up. H dodges a wild swing and slashes his knife again, this time going for tendons in the man's arms. He actually attempts to climb Cleaver, as his arm moves from a slash to a hit. He punches toward the throat, and then the temple to incapacitate the man. As Cassandra retreats and smirks in his direction, Jason takes the moment to do what any irreverent Robin would do, he gives Cass a pretty emphatic one-fingered salute.

Batman saw the retreat. Moving toward the discarded Batgirl symbol he picked it up. Putting it into the utility belt he went toward Slade who was going after Miss Marvel.His cape flapped in the wind as he moved forward trying to jump upward and connect a good shot on the assassin also to help Miss Marve. His eyes watched the assassin. He looked toward the rest of the room, "Confiscate any weapons!" he cried out to the group.

There is a second of disorientation as Karla de-gores herself. Then Deathstroke is thundering right towards her. Hmm, no, that is not good. She leaps upwards about five meters and faces him with a wicked smile. The blood coating her and a few shreds of meat still clinging to her might make Karla look like a psychotic cross between Carrie and a cheerleader, but..

Karla does psychotic pretty well herself. There is a snarl, "Don't even think about it two tone." Hands raise and she unleashes cones of white gravtonic particle beams at full intensity towards Slade, plenty of ways around or chances to dodge.

A sliced arm muscle sends the cleaver flying off in a random direction. A well-placed jab to the temple makes the Meat Cleaver Guy's knees buckle, and he falls to the ground. But even after he has been methodically taken down, he continues to twitch and writhe on the floor as if he's attempting to keep doing murder despite no longer possessing the capacity.

So... definitely an Arkham recruit then.

The direction that the meat cleaver flies off in is perhaps not quite so random. It streaks right toward the spot Blur is using as a hiding spot. Someone just got a nifty souvenir.

Smoke bombs get popped all over the place, courtesy of the assassins and a few of the remaining mercenaries. The assassins are much more capable of doing the 'ninja vanish' than the mercenaries, not even leaving behind any of their dead. Or any equipment worth having, for that matter. But there should still be enough evidence left behind for a halfway decent detective to work with.

The mercenaries aren't quite as methodical with their cleanup. They're happy just to get out with their skins. Only a few heavily-wounded mercenaries are left behind. Slightly less than twenty of the still-living mercenaries are able to get out through one of the back doors alive.

The floor is littered with a little over eighty corpses. Unfortunately, Slade doesn't have time to make good on his threat to run them through one of the meat processors. But it's more than likely that he has a backup plan.

Deathstroke does a series of quick basketball spin moves, avoiding the particle beams in the process. As he gets closer he leaps into the air, sword held dramatically over his head with the blade pointed forward. He gets ridiculous amounts of air, looking like a cross between Conan the Barbarian and Michael Jordan in his prime. Only covered in garish blue and orange armor...

Those acrobatics might impress Batgirl, if she had stuck around to watch but she hadn't. No, she decided that it is time to leave and she will meet up with Slade later. Those of the injured assassins are left here to deal with their failures while their lesser-injured compatriots exit stealthily, melting into the shadows outside.

Blur is more winded than she expected. That's the only explanation for getting nicked by a flying cleaver. The blade cuts a shallow gash across her chest, not deadly but painful. She gasps in pain, touching the wound with a wince. There was no way she could explain this without getting into trouble. Luckily she had a spare suit... She picks up the massive blade, and decides to hang onto it for now.

Dark takes a few seconds to watch, giving a low whistle at Slade's antics. The woman hears Bat's call, but she shakes her head. She's not giving up that rifle. Ty will let him have anything else, but that. "Careful of dirty corpses. We're talking about Deathstroke. He could have Willy Pete's or C4 strap to them.", she says. At least that's what Ty would do....Which the woman is putting a little distance between her and the corpses...Just in case...

Jason Todd shakes his head as he looks at the twitching man on the floor. He looks around him, assessing more threats. His eyes survey the bodies. "What a waste," he says. "Somehow, I'm pretty sure the Gotham police will pin this on me." He starts to strip the remaining weapons and ammo from the dead.

Batman looked around as the smoke rose everywhere. He knew the cops were going to be here any moment. Taking a step he looked at Blur. His eyes narrowed and she could have felt them for that moment. Pressing a button on his utility belt it flashed red. After a few moments there was another roar as the batplane was racing to the location. Once in the air giant cables came down and he hooked them up to what was left of the Batmobile. A third cable came down and he went up toward the plane. Suddenly he was in the plane and reeling the damaged vehicle upward. Once secure he was flying off toward home.

Karla watches as he leaps through the air, there is a a second of hang time to consider the nasty blade. Karla might just be able to stop that blade, she might be strong enough. Karla is not stupid. Back a tick and roll, her head dropping away as her foot drive up into Deathstroke's midriff. There might likely be a cracked rib, or other nasty internal damage, but Deathstroke doesn't care about such minor things.

The punt launches him backwards, likely through the ceiling with an explosion of stone and rafters. "GOOOAAL!" She shouts. If Karla knew him better, she might realize that it was Slade's goal to get himself out of the way of the other costumes.

The crunch of bones is audible, but muted somewhat by all of the acoustic-dampening padding and armor that Deathstroke wears. But it definitely looks like that blow hurt, as it sends him Smash Brothering through the roof and out into the very cold Bludhaven night sky.

As he flies through the air, Deathstroke presses a button on the side of his helmet. "Hey Wintergreen. Did I wake you up? Really? It's just you sound kind of... Oh okay. Right. Anyway... I need you to come pick me up as soon as you can."

Twisting in mid-air, he looks in the direction of his flight path. "Where? I'm not sure yet. But it looks like I'm going to land somewhere near the new Sionis building."