2013.07.30 - Tag! You're Dead!

It's night time, and in one of the more crime-ridden locations in an already-crime-ridden city, there is something unpleasant and likely criminal happening. This is not surprising, what is surprising is who is involved. Or rather, WHAT is involved. See, a woman is running through the unlit passages of a veritable labyrinth of back alleys. She is very pale, and already seems to be injured. The blonde is wearing torn clothing, with dark rings around her eyes that show she hasn't been sleeping. She is gasping for breath, the air rattling both on inhalation and exhalation, her lungs fighting to get enough oxygen to feed the needs of her over-exerted body. One hand occasionally clasps the side of her throat, her eyes darting wildly in the darkness -- searching for a way out.

There is no way out.

It doesn't matter where she runs, it doesn't matter if she finds an opening onto the street, there is no one who can save her. See, this woman is being pursued by a monster. A very, very, very scary monster. Mere moments after the woman has passed through one alley, the steam that escapes from a leaking pipe turns to fog, and the moisture on the filthy cobblestones freezes. The ice spreads rapidly, as if chasing the woman. Stray cats, rats, insects, all flee in terror from something their animal instincts can detect but human minds remain oblivious to.

Eventually, the pale, injured woman finds an opening into the dim lighting of a street lamp -- beyond is a more populated area! Maybe she'll be safer amongst other people--That hope dies when an entire dumpster, filled with half-rotted waste, swings violently away from the wall -- turning to block the alley's exit. Despair and fear fill the woman again, and she turns to look over her shoulder, and finds...

A little girl in a white sun dress and white sun hat, holding a red rubber ball between her hands, at the far end of the alley. Despite the lack of light, the girl can be seen clearly, almost seeming to glow in the darkness. The woman gibbers in terror and turns to try to scramble over the dumpster. Managing to get a foot hold, she turns to look over her shoulder once more. The girl is half-way down the alleyway now, still seeming to just be standing in place. The lid of the dumpster is old, and when the terrified woman puts her full weight on it, the lid collapses inwards, dumping the blonde into the filth within. She struggles to get out, seeing a fire escape she might use instead if she stands on the edge of the dumpster. But by the time she extricates herself, leaps up to grab the fire escape ladder, and pulls herself most of the way up to the first landing... She takes one more look down the alley.

The strange girl is gone. The woman doesn't believe it for an instant. She lets out a shuddering breath and then proceeds to get her upperbody up onto the scaffolding. The girl is there waiting for her. An inhumanly deep voice bellows from the girl's mouth, "I CAUGHT you!" A too-smooth, too-pale hand reaches out for the woman.

Her eyes go wide, and she screams and screams and screams.

This can, naturally, be heard quite readily.

Dressed in his costume, Damian Wayne aka Darkwing is on the rooftop and when he hears the screaming, he glides from above the cape helping slow his descent. His blue eyes hidden by the white of his mask's optics. He lands in a very Batman-esque manner, his voice while still boyish in quality,"What do you think you're doing?"

When Darkwing descends, he finds a woman half-covered in very foul-smelling garbage, with blood streaming from her neck from a pair of holes, and one of those large red rubber balls that kids play with lying on the scaffolding as the woman curls on her side and keeps screaming her lungs out, seeming unaware of what's going on around her. For a moment, it seemed like someone else was there. Infact, Darkwing may even be CERTAIN he saw someone dressed in white. But within seconds of his arrival, he'd find it's just him and this traumatized, injured, filth-soaked woman.

Eventually, she just runs out of oxygen to scream with, makes a few more attempts, and then passes out. The windows nearby -- the few that are intact -- are frozen over. This is not a cold night. Or at least not cold enough for frost. The frost gradually recedes right before the caped hero's eyes, melting away without leaving any moisture behind -- like it was never there.

This is... Perhaps not the normal sort of criminal activity that Darkwing deals with. Some sort of illusion? Invisibility device? Holograms? But what about the frosted windows? Some sort of cryo gas without moisture content? Those certainly exist! There is... Something else though. Something beyond just what can be seen and deduced. Almost like the darkness that surrounds Darkwing is... Is BREATHING. It's not a sound so much as a feeling. The shadows pulsing, expanding, tugging at the periphery of vision but never quite manifesting.

Maybe some sort of hallucinogen! This seems to be supported at least roughly, as that feeling of heaviness -- of a MALICE that is not at all scientific -- recedes gradually, just like the frost. And then it's just Darkwing and a passed out woman on a fire escape.

Probably.

"If you expect me to be afraid, you do not know who you are dealing with. " Darkwing says in a cold voice,"I don't know what you are but I suggest you get out of here." He doesn't seem to be at all unhappy. His tone is quite clear that he'd like to commit violence here, even if he's not sure that he'll actually manage it. "If you do not then I will ensure you find a way out."

The woman shivers at Darkwing's feet, her breathing shallow. There is no response from the darkness. No hint that the presence that was so very angry and aggressive before is still there. Nothing supernatural here. Just darkness, and the silence except for the irregular breaths of someone who is bleeding out.

This continues until it seems as though whomever or whatever did this is not going to respond -- if it's even still here. This woman needs medical attention. And this matter bears further investigation.