2013-01-22 YAL: Wild Dogs: Part 1

Tuesday evening is showing a lot of activity in a Bronx neighborhood. That's because of the grand opening of a brand new homeless outreach and community center in the area. It's not just any center though, it's one that's having a special guest deliver a speech at the opening ceremony. Mayor Mark Gruenwald himself is there tonight to help open the place up. While a small crowd of press and other random people is gathered outside, there's still some activity as people rush about to set things up inside.

"Eddie, can you get that ribbon outside so they can put it across the door?" the center's director calls as she heads outside to take her place for the cameras and the mayor's speech.

"Yes ma'am!" Eddie chirps, heading to scoop the roll of ribbon off the table where it's been left. Eddie of course has been volunteering at this center for weeks, helping to set it up. He's invited any of his friends and teammates to come help out if they wanted too. Especially tonight since they were a little shorthanded.

Accept the things one cannot change. Robbie's been actually thinking deep thoughts in that direction lately. A lot of what he's seen since meeting other supers has really twisted his worldview in a knot. His own thoughts wander to 'what can be done?' A bouncy kinetic field can't solve all the world's ills. But, there are the smaller things. He can help, he can provide labor where he's needed. So, when Eddie asked around for help for the shelter, knowing why Eddie feels very strongly about it, Robbie jumped at the chance.

He's on his third go-around with the mop. Normally, mopping the floor in preparation wouldn't take this long, but there was some snow in New York yesterday, and mixed with New York's...New York-ness, this means that there's always one more gray, slushy footprint to eradicate. He has his iPod on, so he can at least listen to some tunes, and he takes a brief moment to spin around the mop in some phantom dance only he knows od.

To be honest, all it took was Eddie just mentioning this place, and Kate came. Considering the raw number of charities that she helps already, not to mention the types, and of course all the various things she does for them, this is nothing out of the ordinary for the socialite.

Hence why, as ther 'Allies' do what they can to help, Kate is handling some of the press who are here. The fact that she's a recognizable face does help keep them distracted, at least until someone in a more officially capacity related to the shelter and its grand opening can take over.

"As I've said before, I'm just a volunteer. But when you compare places like this to the need in the city, if not the worlds, I can't help but wonder what more can be done... What more can I do to help. And I know others who have helped with this feel the same way."

Eddie offers a smile Robbie's way as he passes by him carefully, thankfully not adding to the mop work. He's glad the other Allies came to help out tonight. He heads outside to hand off the ribbon and gets sent off on another last minute task or two.

"Thanks, Eddie. Hurry up with that and try to find out if Tom is back yet. He's twenty minutes late!" Director Jo, a mildaged woman with some flaming red hair, calls over her shoulder as she walks over to the cameras to see if Kate needs a rescue.

There's some rising chatter from the assembled people as the Mayor and a few aides arrive, the man in charge of NYC shaking hands and smiling for the cameras from the moment he gets out of the car.

Inside, Robbie's floors will be suddenly dirtied a little more. Tom, another of the volunteers at the center, trails snow as he finally steps back into the center through the back door. And he's not alone, four other big guys with him. They're still decked out in winter coats and don't seem all that bothered by the fact that they're messing up Robbie's floor.

Due to the music, Robbie doesn't hear much of what's going on around him. Dealing with what he can see, his shoulders slump a bit as more people enter, again with the muddy shoes. Aw, man. He lets out a sigh that's not as quiet as he'd like (curse you, earbuds!), puts the mop back into the rolling bucket and wheels it all over to the back door. "Come on," he says, wringing out the mop first. "I'll be here til next January mopping up if you guys keep tracking it in here." Mop, mip. Grouse, grouse.

While Kate is sort of use to having things like this happening to her, she doesn't say 'No' to that rescue from Director Jo. Then again, considering that the Mayor is now here, it probably isn't that much of a reach to assume that the members of the press that were paying attention to her might be drawn off for that?

Either way though, as Jo approaches, Kate can't help but offer the other woman a smile and a slight thanks, before jerking her head in the direction of the 'Big Shot' who just arrived.

"Looks like the real fun is about to begin."

The rescue goes off without a hitch, Jo and the Mayor's arrival getting the press away from Kate with only a few more random questions and a picture taken. Jo smiles back, looking towards the Mayor as well. "Looks like it. I'd better get up there. But thank you again for helping out," she says to Kate, heading up onto the stairs where the speech will be taking place. The Mayor Gruenwald is headed up that way too.

Inside, Eddie perks up when he sees Tom but frowns quickly when he notices the mess he and those other guys are making. "Hey, Tom. Jo w-w-was looking fo-oof!" Eddie doesn't get to finish speaking, getting shoved aside roughly. "Out of the way ya little freak," Tom sneers as he starts unzipping his coat. He and the other men a quick to take off the winter gear to reveal black and red body armor. Helmets get put on and guns strapped from their backs as they head for the front of the center. Tom himself unclips a canister of tear gas and tosses it outside where it clatters onto the steps, much to the surprise of the people outside.

Glaring at the backs of the people as they march past him, Robbie's grip on his mop tightens when he sees Eddie get shoved aside. That's /his/ friend! "Hey, what's the big-!" Uh...uh-oh. "The hell," the blond kid says to himself, as the uniformed soldiers move to the outside. It's a homeless shelter, for cryin' out. The mop handle clatters to the floor as Robbie runs for forward a few steps before leaping. From those who don't know him, it looks like he's belly-flopping the floor. What it will end up doing is changing his costume on activation of his kinetic field, revealing Speedball! "Everyone else," he calls to the room, just in case. "Out the back. Now."

Since she's now disconnected from the press, Kate just offers Jo a slight smile as the other woman heads off towards the Mayor.

Of course the peace doesn't last that long, now does it? After all, between what comes clattering out of that door, and the shout that appears to come from somewhere inside the building...

Yeah. Kate notices things. And while she doesn't panic, she does start to move quickly, possibly even moving against the crowd, towards one of the side entrances to the building so she can get at something that she left inside it.

Shouting and sudden gas spreading cause some panic, people screaming and some scattering. This is only made worse by some of the people in the audience shedding coats to reveal armor of their own like what the soldiers that come up behind the Mayor and Jo are wearing. There's the sound of gunshots as the Mayor's security is shot. "Get the target! Shoot anyone that gets in the way!" 'Tom' orders the others, several of the soldiers rushing the mayor and his aides.

Inside, Eddie pushes himself up in time to see Robbie going Speedball. "Y-yeah! Out the back!" he echos Speedball. Of course he doesn't follow that advice. He's ducking into a side room to pick up something he left there...

Sproing! This Speedball is a bit away from the young man, who, a few months back, got a bit nervous when he came across muggers with guns. In a small explosion of multicolored kinetic energy spheres, the masked marvel emerges mid-bounce through the front door. "Well, what do you know," he says, trying to aim for one of the gunmen. "I happen to be around, and I just got my degree of 'getting in the way.'" He smirks, just so. "With a minor in being one of 'Those meddling kids.'"

And while all that happens, Kate manages to slip inside. It takes her just a few moments to find her bag, then to slip into the ladies room.

Then, a few minutes later, out from the same ladies room rushes Hawkeye! But it's not just Hawkeye, but Hawkeye with a rebreather on, who in turn goes rushing towards that main entrance/exit that the armored creeps dropped the gas out of.

One of thoe gunmen goes down when he gets a back full of Speedball, his gun skittering off into the chaos. This prompts a few of the others to start shooting at the masked marvel. 'Tom' scowls as he spots the hero. "Keep him busy! Acquire the target!" he keeps ordering. The target? The Mayor. The man's struck across the face with the butt of a rifle, two of the armored soldiers dragging him and a few of the aides towards a van.

Shortly after Hawkeye leaves the ladies room, Axiom can be seen just about falling out of the men's room. No rebreather for him, just a cloth tied around his mouth and nose. He runs quickly to catch up to Hawkeye, nodding her way. "This is m-messed up."

Unfortunately, Spedball doesn't have that much control when it comes to the ricochet. He's able to take down one gunman, and he's heading towards a second, but neither are the ones that assault Mayor Gruenwald. "Allies? Anyone?" He calls out. "They're taking the mayor! And if it's to Isengard, I'll eat my iPod!"

In more ways than one Eddie.

Or at least that's what Hawkeye probably can't help but think as she rushes out the doors, and snaps off a quick pair of arrows. Said arrows are aimed in the direction of the first armored thugs she see's, but considering the speed she's moving at, there's no guarantee that they'll hit.

Especially as she hears what one of her team mates shouts out, prompting her to change direction as she tries to go after the mayor!

The second gunman goes flying, knocked off the concrete steps and into the bushes flanking them. One of the armored thugs hurls a flashbang Speedball's way.

The first arrow finds it mark, knocking the armored gunman down the staires. While the second one doesn't hit, that creep gets a boot to the chest from Axiom. Unfortunately, the path to the mayor isn't a clear one. Several of the armored gunmen are in the way and they turn to start shooting Hawkeye's way. The Mayor and a few others are being tossed into the back of the van. The impact of the flashbang isn't enough to affect Speedball through his kinetic field. But, the flash part of it, despite him trying to get his arm up in time, works just fine. "Aaah!" he says, the impact is just enough to send him bouncing down the steps and into the crowd, and Robbie can't see where he's going. "'Scuse me! Sorry! Whoops!"

Unfortunately, between the three heroes, options are a bit on the limited side. Or so Hawkeye thinks as she notices Axiom giving a thug the 'boot'.

Worse, there's gunfire. Which if anything, causes Hawkeye to try to jump to the side to get clear, before firing another series of arrows in the direction of the thugs firing at her.

"Damn it... Talk about a time to be without our 'heavy hitters'..."

Arrows are not on the list of things these gunmen planned for. Guns and the ones holding them are stuck, cursing following as the gunmen go down hard. Axiom kicking someone leads to him falling but he's quick to get up and rush back into the fight. He doesn't get too far before he's struck by a runaway Speedball. As Axiom hits the ground, the van doors are closed.

"Get moving, Watchdogs! Go! Go!" 'Tom' yells, running for the passenger side door even as the van starts moving with the grabbed people inside.

"No way! Oof! Sorry Ax," he says. Speedball is still dazzled by the magnesium flashbang, but he tries to orient himself and bounce after where he thinks he hears the van's motor. Unfortunately, he's about fifteen feet off, slams into a lamp post, then bounces the wall of the building which launches him into the air, across the street and into another building. "Damnitdamnitdamnit."

"..."

Damn it. As Kate hits the ground, she hits the ground hard and skids a distance. Then though, as she scrambles to get up, she reaches for a 'special' arrow. One that she aims not at a person, but instead at the van as it tries to get away. If the arrow hits, a tracking device will activate. If it hits the ground, or otherwise misses the van, the archer probably will end up 'tracking' something else all together.

And of course as that arrow is fired Hawkeye is a nice big target.

The arrow finds its mark, hitting the van right in the bumper. Luckily enough, the gunfire is dying down. Another flashbang is tosssed towards Hawkeye and Axiom even if one of them is on the ground right now. The van speeds off as the flash goes off, the gunmen that didn't get knocked down or out scattering as well.

The flashbang is enough to blind Hawkeye for a few moments. Odds are it would of been a lot worse (at least for her) if she hadn't been wearing her 'sunglasses'.

But a few moments is all it takes. By the time she can see again, the van is gone, and the other thugs are on their way out. All she really can do is pull another arrow, a taser arrow, and try to fire it at a running thug (once she can see again that is).

"Damn it."

Of course she can't really hear herself say that, unfortunately.

That running thug goes down with a rather funny noise as the arror not only hits him but hits a spot not protected by the armored portion of that uniform. There aren't a lot of those thugs left though, some heading into alleys and subways.

Not too far from Hawkeye, Axiom is finally pushing himself off the ground. He takes one look around at the area and starts getting up faster. "By Odin's b-beard this is bad..."

As Axiom speaks, that's when Speedball comes back down, finally. He had a little too much airtime, but has managed to touch down on the ground by now. He looks at Axiom, but it's a little skewed. He can see...mostly. There's still flashing spots in front of his eyes which makes details a bit fuzzy. "This is...." He turns, looking between him and Hawkeye. "This...is where we call the others in, right?"

There's simply a nod at Speedball as he makes his grand return and states the obvious. That is before Hawkeye starts to try and get over towards the thug that fell.

"Oh it definitely is. In fact... We need the whole crew, and we might not want to pull our punches this time."

Yeah, Kate definitely agrees with you Eddie in regards to how bad this is.

Axiom nods as well. "We c-call everyone. Whole team," he confirms, getting his phone out to start sending messages. It's not easy with the flashing spots he's seeing but he's doing it. "Are you g-guys okay?" he asks them both, concerned for his friends.

The thug on the ground twitches a few times, unaware that Hawkeye is approaching.

"Dude, I feel like I got hit by All the Paparazzi. Ever," Speedball says, and goes to rub his eyes before he realizes he has those goggles on. But taking them off might expoose his identity...to anyone not distracted by the floating hair and field of rainbow bubbles. He really doesn't think these through. "You, Ax? I...bumped into you, didn't I?"

As she gets closer to the guy on the ground, Hawkeye tries to grab him, she she can zip tie his hands behind his back (and yes, she does make sure he isn't holding any weapons before doing that). That is before in turn she tries to roll him onto his back, and (if he's wearing any) remove any goggles/helmet/masks he has on. That way things will hopefully be more clear once she removes her own rebreather and says just one word to the thug.

"Talk."

"I thought I r-ran into you," Axiom offers with a smile, looking up from the message he's sending. Of course Kate and Robbie will get the message too since Eddie did say 'everyone'. "I'm fine. B-b-been through worse," he adds.

The thug's hands are empty when they're grabbed and zipped. His gun is on the ground and his knife is still in the holder on his leg. He grunts when rolled onto his back. The helmet is easy to get off and under it is a young guy looking more like 'spoiled brat' than 'hardened merc'. He actually spits at Kate when she makes her demand. "Shut up, liberal bitch."

To be honest, Hawkeye is fighting to remain calm. To remain in control of herself right now. To be honest, she's been involved in some bad things since first donning a costume. But this...? This strikes a bit too close to certain things for her.

"Liberal bitch?" she repeats, reaching for an arrow from her quiver. "I've been called worse. But I'm giving a chance. One chance to talk. To spill everything. Or else."

The arrow comes out, revealing something that isn't a standard looking arrow. In fact, the 'head' looks almost like a roll of quarters, or something like that.

"I mean... Do you know how hot an emergency flare is when lit? I was once told over 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. i'm not sure if that's true. but if you don't want to talk, we could always find out..."

"H-hey! Hawkeye!" Axiom squeaks when he notices what his teammate is up to. He scurries over to give her a concerned look and shoot a glare at the thug.

The man on the ground makes a poor attempt to hide how nervous he is, eyes flicking to that arrow more than a few times. "It's not like you can do anything about it. Now that the Watchdogs have that pathetic mayor, we'll finally return this city to the way things are supposed to be. A real American city."

Apparently ignoring Eddie, Hawkeye reaches towards the tip of that arrow, and twists a cap off. Thus causing a bit of a *Snap-his!* before a fine point of bright colored flame comes out from it. Then slowly, she starts to lower said arrow towards the guy.

It's not fast, or even close yet. but there is a certain amount of menace there.

"Last chance. Spill it. Where are you guys taking them?"

"Hawkeye!" Axiom jumps, reaching out to try to grab her arm. The guy meanwhile tries to wriggle away, not even trying to hide the fear now. "The Doghouse. I don't know where it is exactly. Down by the docks! Get her away from me!"

And as her arm is grabbed, and the guy spills what he knows, Hawkeye nods.

Then she tries to take a step back, and take a deep breath, before glancing at Axiom.

"It's all right. You can let go."

Then she glares at the guy on the ground.

"So now you're going from the dog pound to the big house. I hope you enjoy your stay there. And remember... Don't drop the soap.

Axiom holds on for a moment longer, frowning with concern. The comment about the soap just gets a tired little look from Axiom but he jumps when his phone starts giving little 'pings' indicating replies from the team. "C'mon. We should help out here then g-g-get moving to meet the others."

Another deep breath is taken, and released by Kate before she nods at Eddie.

"Let's go." is simply said, before Kate heads off.

But if one were to really look at her, they might realize the female archer is shaking, and possibly even a little shaken.

After all, she knows just how close she came to doing something that crossed the line.