| Twice Terminated | |||||
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| What: A supply run for the Bludhaven police gets disrupted | |||||
Bludhaven has earned itself a lot of names recently: Hell, the haven, the DMZ. Whatever you call it the place isn't safe for anyone these days. PMC troops patrol the bombed out streets and husks of cars. The rain from above reeks of death and destruction. Streets are covered in pockmarks and bodies simply left to rot before being eventually drug away.
The clouds overhead blot out the stars leaving the world a dark and dreary place, a thick layer of unease washing over in the night. Patrols pass by on edge, waiting for the next thug or criminal to hop out and play target practice with them. The pure chaos of the moment making one wonder what fresh hell has fallen over this city, even with the new toy given to the police.
The one secure sector in this whole hellhole seems to be the old police station, a fortification in the one part of town yet to descend into complete and utter anarchy. The walls hold firm made from cars and reclaimed metal large ports left open for windows to view the world at large. A slow breeze wafts over the whole place, making for quite the scene as a convoy rolls their way back to the front gate loaded with supplies.
Bludhaven. It's quiet right now, the chaos the small city has descended into somewhat mitigated for now. A man in a trenchcoat and hat leans against the wall of an alleyway, casually, looking as if he's there for no particular reason - but the perceptive might realize he's entirely alert and watching the people move by, hurry by, hands in pockets. Nobody's really talking to anyone else.
Cir-El is back on her patrols. Actually, she never was off, she patrolled even while she was powerless, but she did limit herself to places she felt she could handle, which means Bludhaven is overdue. She has flown to the top of a stout building...well flown to the near area and glided to the top, she still has not mastered close quarters flying. She stands and listens, using her super hearing to find what in the area, most needs the attention of Superlass.
Deathstroke is furious. Bad things happen when Deathstroke is furious. Anger never consumes him like a bonfire. Instead if burns cold in his heart, allowing him excesses of carnage in pursuit of whatever it is he feels wronged him. In this particular case it happens to be the fact that someone or some thing was using his name and likeness to perpetuate...idiocies. Taking over a city? It makes him cringe.
It took Deathstroke a good bit of time to pull him out of the deep-cover contract he had been fulfilling in Tibet, but now he finds himself in the city he took over before being depose. Or...the other him...did. The place is a hellhole. It was before, but it is worse now. He doesn't feel much sympathy, of course, but this was done in -his- name...and that means somebody has to pay.
The man crouches on a rooftop not far from the fortress of a police station. He is fully armored and helmeted, the lenses in his helmet zooming in on the building and scanning for patrols or anything of interest. He idly runs his fingertips along the hilt of one of the blades sheathed on his back, as his mind goes through scenario after possible scenario in his head. He is far more intelligent then any creature has the right to be.
Lunair really needs to work on her patrol costuming. She has a knitted cat ear beanie, with a long, black military style coat that reaches to her knees and has some silver trim near the buttons and cuffs. She has manacle style bracelets and anklets, with a couple of chain links on both and heavy combat boots. Black and white camo pants are the pants of the day. Because being pantsless would be too cold.
She's only heard rumors of this Deathstroke guy. He's like, the totally badass dude that stomps dumb mercenaries who bother him. All the little merclets look up to him? Nevertheless, she is on a rooftop below Slade, and probably not the hardest to spot, though she is good at moving quietly. And eventually she just materializes an Amazon.com box with a pinup lady drawn on it, and sneaks along under her box.
If there is one thing not to do in Bludhaven, it's stand out. Standing out makes you a good target. Which is why Bobby Drake, who has never actually been to Bludhaven before, is being as low-key as he can possibly manage. It's also why he's alone. He has a much easier time passing for normal than most of his colleagues. Dressed in old, beat up clothing, he could for one of the locals except for one thing. His face lacks the hollow expression that so many who've been through this kind of hell tend to get. He just looks nervous as he picks his way down the broken street.
The convoy rolls its way along slowly down the road, the bulletproof windows hiked up all the way AC/DC blaring out from the radio. Four fully loaded state of the art trucks roll single file are flanked at both the front and the back by a squad car and a heavily reinforced APC, with the Bloodhaven Police Department logo across the side of the APC's. They roll along blaring their music the battle hardened cops looking like they haven't slept well in weeks, as they move along without trouble, right towards a conspicuously placed trashcan on the side of the road.
The roar of the engines and the sounds of the music are enough to draw some attention from what's left of the city. Yet the sheer armored nature of the convoy is enough that some people just head right back into their homes hiding away from the sight of that swiveling cannon on the roof of the APC's.
The car at the front houses a rather happy looking officer all things considered patting his left hand on the steering wheel dressed up in full state of the art body armor. His blue eyes keeping a look on the road as he drives singing. "No stop signs! Speed limits!" His out of key singing annoying the half asleep looking gray haired Gotham City Police department officer on loan with him. The back of their squad car is filled with canned food from the looks. "I swear, after this I'm retiring to Florida."
Aha. There's the...and abruptly the trenchcoated man's head turns, his right eye flaring red...which Bobby is in a good position to see, and which might well attract the mutant's attention. If it doesn't, then what happens next might, because he suddenly turns and runs up the fire escape, skipping steps, touching the wall occasionally and somehow using it for some kind of support, then vaulting onto the rooftop. Where is he...where is he? Jack has to limit the amount of city energy he uses, but...yes. There. On that rooftop. He jogs towards Slade, altering his course just enough to make it a challenge for the mercenary if he decides to shoot him, but not stealthing his approach. If he could risk the energy, he'd pop up next to him. This is Bludhaven. He can't.
Cir-El hears the convoy and jumps closer to investigate. She only has partial super vision, and Telescopic is one type she is missing. She leaps, because she does not trust her flying abilities yet. The last thing this place needs is a clumsy flyer crashing through buildings. She lands near the caravan and her eyes glow blue as she adjusts her vision. X-Ray vision can see through concealment, including concealing darkness. She can also check out what is in the trucks, and it there is anything near them that is threatening. Fortunately she DOES have superspeed, so the look will not take long.
The Terminator spots Lunair below him, and the armored behemoth cocks his head a bit to the side. He watches her curiously with his single eye, tracking her movements before the vehicles draw his attention. He idly cocks his head to the side, consider just what it could mean.
Then, of course, he is drawn from his reverie by a very pissed off city spirit...thing. He is on his feet in an instance, and he leaps back with surprising speed and agility, tucking into a flip before landing on the tip of the building's chimney. With the *SHNK* that comes with drawing a blade, the deadly creature draws one of his long, slightly curved blades.
"Something I can help you with, chief? You're interrupting business." His voice is deep and fathomless, the tone promising violence. This all happens close enough for Lunair to notice, of course.
Lunair is an odd sight. And sure, Slade IS the merc that all the little merclets wanna be like (Not livin' in an Amish paradise~), but Lunair also knows to treat bigger, badder folks with a degree of respect and caution. There's something going on and- there's a familiar sound of SHNK (not Sshtnk or SNIKT, mind you). She goes tense, recognition of noise. Reflexively, her head turns towards the source of the noise. And there's a glowy-eyed Jack. Her friend? Her friend. Curious, Lunair ambles over.
If she were a cat, she would have gone through so, so many lives by this point. "Ah, bananas." They're just ABOVE her. She's gotta start climbing one way or another. "God I hate climbing," Boobs. Scraping wall. HRRRNG SHE HATES CLIMBING SO MUCH. But climb she does, and she'll make it up to the two. "OHHOLYSHITIT'SDEATHSTROKE." And she promptly disappears, like a startled turtle back into her Amazon box.
Her voice is not a yell. Just a soft 'oh holy shit' type deal. Lunair knows better than to yell in Bludhaven...
Bobby Drake freezes (in the "stops moving" sense) as he watches a man's eyes glow, and then that same man scale a building. The armored convoy gets him moving again though, as he scrambles to not be in its way. He ducks behind the remains of a car and apparently starts talking to himself, albeit quietly. "OK, we've got a few complications. A few armored vehicles, at least two superhumans of some type. Wait, I think I know that girl?" A long pause, then a sigh and he says, "I'll do what I can."
"Come on, you know you love it." The cop mentions with a bit of a smile turning his attention off the road for just a single moment. His arm just nudging the other cop. A slight pause in the conversation before he goes to turn his attention back to the road. "Spoilsport" He grumbles a bit just as Cir-El goes zooming past at full speed to grab the trash can from the side of the road.
The can is easy enough to lift up but once it's in the air even moved that slight bit off goes the trip wire and there's a sudden earth shattering kaboom. Flames light up the air as she's thrown back. The convoy tilts and turns their path trying to get out of the way one of the APC's going right towards a nearby ditch crashing down with a loud noise a single truck near the back jackknifing completely, the cop car behind it threatening to crash through the supplies and over the other side.
Nearby puddles of water on the ground begin to shake, as a loud thumping noise fills the air, something large, and heavy entering the region. There's a moments chaos as all hell breaks lose people starting to open fire from the buildings on either side of the road with mill-spec weapons. Glass breaking as they smash it out to take aim.
Even as Deathstroke stands right there in full view of everyone that same voice calls out from nearby. "Honey, I'm home." A massive suit of armor coming into view standing at almost a full 18 feet tall, colored in bright orange, and blue painted up like the man himself. This monstrosity of a suit has two full sets of military grade missile launchers on its shoulders and a single arc reactor in the chest. "Hand over the shipment and no one gets killed."
Normally, Jack wouldn't be blindsided by huge suits of armor, but he's...distracted right now. "What makes you think you can come waltzing back in here, Deathstroke?" He doesn't ask how he broke out of wherever the cops stashed him. Villains break out. It happens. Then...kaboom. "As much as I'd like to beat you up, I apparently have some cops to save." Unless Deathstroke physically tries to stop him...the man will turn and jump OFF the roof. He'll land in a crouch at the bottom, not far from the suit of armor and the police. Fardle it. Bludhaven can't keep taking these hits like this.
OOF, that hurt. It would be easier to hide that if it was daylight and she had her solar healing. Cir-El has scrapes and bruises visible on her arms and legs and even a few on her neck and face as she pulls herself out of the wall the explosion threw her into. She notably is barely bleeding and has no apparent broken bones as she snarls to the man in the armor, "You want to kill anyone, you have to go through me first." She had the wind knocked out of her by the explosion and is trying not to show it by a bit of bluster, she is not quite as invulnerable to things at this level as she used to be.
The Terminator is about to respond to Jack when...well...-he- arrives. The big merc turns in his crouch atop the chimney, keeping the precarious balance with ease. His blade twirls as his electronic gaze takes in the details of the machine, scanning it. "...Huh."
Deathstroke leaps from the chimney and lands on the balcony below it...about ten feet or so from Lunair, actually. He drops into an expert roll to break his fall, and comes up in another leap. He lands on the edge of the building, the roll finishing the arc that allows him to lob a small sticky-bomb through the air with ease. It is small, but insanely powerful. He launches the sticky at the mecha, attempting to attach it to one of the legs, if he can.
"I have to admit I'm growing pretty tired of people pretending to be me," he calls out, loud enough to be heard.
"Wait. Two Slades? He has a twin?" Lunair emerges from her box. "Ohholycrap." Deep breath. Lunair is going to emerge and scamper down to join the - well, no, she's going to shoot from a distance because teenage girl vs MECHA-SLADE is one of the world's most lopsided fights like Snoop Dogg vs A Toddler. Sure, she's an experienced mercenary and a former child soldier and all but it's - well, she knows her strengths and weaknesses and a HUGE ASS SWORD TO THE FACE is definitely one of her weaknesses.
Nevertheless, she pulls a huge sniper rifle that looks like it gets used to pick off wayward gundams and takes aim at MECHA-SLADE who gathered all the chaos emeralds. "man. I hope I don't shoot him in the nuts. That always happens," Grump. And she is indeed, shooting at a mechaslade. She is an alarmingly good marksman.
Bobby Drake lets out a yell as a piece of shrapnel from the blast finds its way through the burnt out car he was hiding behind, and then through his arm. He grabs at the bleeding wound, then looks at his Bloody hand. Getting to his feet he says out loud, "OK, I am so done with the subtle approach." Even as he says it, he transitions to his ice form. The hole in his arm is sealed and smoothed over in the process.
Sliding out into the open, he heads for the APC in the ditch. With a wave of his hand a pillar of ice forms under one side of it, righting the vehicle and partially lifting it from the ditch.
"Feelings mutual." The suit calls out before pulling a large pair of swords from its back. It flicks the sword round and round before taking a stance to try and slice the sticky out of the air only for it to hit the blade and completely shatter it into pieces. Shrapnel goes in every direction as the cloud encompasses the mech for a few moments.
The round goes into the fog, sounds of it impacting on metal as the smoke clears somewhat, the suit already moving in for a charge towards the building, lifting itself up into the air with its jets. "You know I didn't take this town over just so some wannabe with a death wish could fuck it all up." That light in the center of its chest beginning to charge up as it stands there hovering in mid air seemingly unharmed.
The people inside of the downed APC panic for a few moments, trying to figure out what they're supposed to even do in order to help. As they are lifted back up a voice calls from inside sounding glad to even be alive. "Oh thank god you came along Iceman, we gotta get these supplies into the safe zone. These freaks have been raiding us on and off all month, we can't hold on without em." The APC starting to drive its way out of the ditch and back onto the main road.
Lack of city energy...but he's going to have to use it anyway, or worse will happen. Jack narrows his eyes as he lands in a crouch, one hand touching the ground. He'll work out the multiple Deathstroke thing. Later. For right now. "I'll try and hold him. You..." He means Lunair and Ice Man... "...TRY to get the cops clear." And with that, cracks start to form in the tarmac, weakening the road under the mecha. And only under the mecha. He doesn't say anything to other Deathstroke. Yet.
Cir-El recognizes Iceman, and is confused by the organic Deathstroke appearing to taunt the metal one. She sees the armored suit take to the air, and flies up, past the armor...but as she passes she releases a Red Sun Burst focused on light, creating a blinding flash of light directly into the eye sensors. She may have the strength to wrestle this thing, but that will not stop it from blasting into buildings. She agrees with Jack though, first have the others rescue people while she keeps the Mecha busy. Then she knows how Bobby can help her beat this thing after they are clear...she has been studying chemistry lately and knows what happens if you heat things almost to melting and then suddenly cool them...
The sticky blows up a sword. Okay, better then nothing! His scan of the mecha completes, and the armored merc glances over towards the nearby box (And the Lunair hiding beneath), and he pulls a little handheld device from his belt. He makes no move to help the people in the APC or anything like that. That shit is for heroes. Besides, those are military personnel. If they were civilians, he might step in.
Might.
The handheld device makes a SNAP sound, and a monofilament chord shoots free, attempting to wrap about the wrist of one of the huge arms. If he manages that he leaps from the rooftop, swinging gracefully through the air, even as the mecha swings and fires at him. He -is- Slade, after all. The real one. He attempts to land on the shoulder of the mecha...and slaps one of those sticky bombs under the shoulder of the mecha...-right- on the arm joint. He then spins to the side, gripping onto the other shoulder for both cover, and to stay close.
"Come on, now. If you are going to pretend to be me, at least speak like a proper man, and not some delinquent."
The mecha is probably pretty busy with a Cir, a Slade, Jack and Lunair periodically bothering it. Nevertheless, a pair of lightsabers appears in the air near MEAT-SLADE. "Bwah? But I suck at carrying people. And I'm legally dead." SIGH. She wants to fight. "Okay, okay. Let's see..." Gotta herd cops. Gotta herd-- no, not the doughnut on a string. She thinks a moment. Well, whatever. Lunair will portal gun the odd cop that she spots to nearby rooftops.
The thanks from the personnel in the APC gets a nod from Iceman. He grins, "Ah, it's cool, don't worry about it. Call it being in the right place at the wrong time." Then he kicks off onto one of his ice slides, the forming ice under his feet pushing him at high speed down the street. As he zigzags down the street he yells, "Hey, you in the mech? Do you have any idea how much I hate giant flying robots. So.. let's do something about the flying part." He tosses up his hands and tries to stopper the boot jets with ice.
The arc on the chest of the mech charges up glowing brighter by the moment. As it starts to fire two things happen: 1 the arm of the mech is blown off from the sticky, slamming down to the ground and smashing open the weakened street.
There's a loud smashing noise as the ground cracks open revealing the piping of the street beneath, that sudden freezing of the jets causing it to lose control, only one of them to actually keep it floating as it flips. The off balance causing the shot that could level buildings to go wide flying up towards the sky. Knocking a passing flock of seagulls out of the sky.
The APCs begin to open fire on the large mech, everything they have plinking off the exterior. Loose cops from the ruined vehicles at the back of the herd find themselves suddenly flung to safety through the use of portals. The trucks themselves starting back up slowly to try not to slip over the ice left behind by the iceman. Even as rockets begin to fly down towards one of the APC's. The suit struggles to maintain its balance.
Cir-El takes a moment to look over the Mech with her combined X-Ray and Microscopic vision...which unfortunately means she has to get close because microscopic vision only works at short range. She is looking for weaknesses...and seeing if this is purely a robot or if there is someone inside controlling it. If it is only a robot, she can let lose more than if there is a person inside.
Okay...that slows the suit down enough for Jack to move. Head down, he runs to position himself between it and the squad cars. "Get clear," he tells the cops. "Get the shipment where it belongs." He's confident those here can hold the mechaslade. And really, that's all they *need* to do. Hold it until the shipment's safely locked away.
Deathstroke clings to the toppling Mecha as he reaches out to snatch a lightsaber out of the air. He will ponder that fact later. Right now he has work to do. With the tell-tale sound of a weapon from a more civilized age igniting, Deathstroke twirls it about as he clings to the remaining shoulder of the mecha, seeking a place to stick it.
"I don't like people pretending to be me."
He lunges in with the lightsaber, swinging with carefully and expertly placed blows, trying to carve the mecha open near the 'neck' region.
Lunair is keeping an eye out, largely out of habit. Always keep other combatants in the corner of your eye. For now, she is helping move those in the line of fire out of the way, while their compatriots move cargo. She has a portal gun that really shouldn't exist. And also THE FREAKING DEATHSTROKE. Really! And she's in awe of her friend and this lady with LED eyes*.
- Not to be confused with Bette Davis eyes.
The Portal gun doesn't get to Bobby. He's seen stranger tech. But some things just deserve comment. He asks, "Wait, was that a lightsaber? A freaking Lightsaber! That... might be cooler than me, and that's saying something." Of course, Bobby is one of that particular class of hero that can talk and fight at the same time. If anything, it's questionable if he's capable of shutting up during a fight. Trying to contribute further to keeping the staggering mech off balance, he drops an ice slick on the ground behind it.
One cleave two cleaves, three and four that's all it takes to cut the helmet clean open from the suit even as it falls down to the ground with an earth shattering boom. Dust filling the air as the now blinded man inside of the suit tries to fling Deathstroke off of himself. Inside of the helmet of the suit is Slade Wilson, or rather someone who looks exactly like the merc. "What's the plan, kill me and take over?" The elderly looking man coughs out from the force of the sudden impact trying to hide his own face as he takes another blind swing towards the man on top of him. "Only a matter of time before you get killed trying. There's only one Deathstroke."
The trucks do their best to get back moving again the jackknifed truck taking some time to get back straightened out, the flash having done a number on a lot of people. Even as they try to escape it's clear the mech wasn't the only one trying to take out the convoy. Shots ring out from the nearby buildings trying to take out the drivers of the trucks.
Okay. Deathstroke can deal with Deathstroke. Jack can talk to the winner. Instead of continuing to fight the mecha, he flows into the ground to emerge behind one of the shooters, and if possible to knock the guy out. NOt kill him - Jack doesn't kill without a very good reason, but stop him shooting.
Cir lets the two Deathstrokes sort things out, they will probably be too busy to attack anything but each other for a bit. She has things to do. She straitens out the jackknifed truck, locates the shooters with her X-ray vision, and jumps up to grab the guns from the hands of as many of them as she can reach, given the limits of her speed and other abilities as well as angles of attack.
So, The Terminator was not expecting his impostor to actually look like him under the mask. And to be fair, he doesn't look like an elderly man. He's huge, muscled, and has a good bit of grey in his hair. But he is handsome, dammit! Intimidating, sure. But he could have a centerfold in Musclebound Merc Monthly.
He doesn't let his surprise show, though. He simply reaches out to grab at the flailing blind him and toss him roughly to the ground eighteen feet below. "I have no idea how you look like me, but I figure a few hours of -very- intense questioning...and you'll damn well tell me."
TWO Deathstrokes? Lunair is pretty sure she's read a fanfic like this before. Ahem. But she's helping out the cops, keeping a watchful eye on Deathstroke^2. AND MAYBE HE DOES HAVE A CENTERFOLD NOT THAT SHE WOULD KNOW. Because she is an innocent, angelic mercenary. Mmhm. All jokes aside, Lunair is pretty good at rapidly moving people with portals. She nearly is super intelligent, admittedly. She winces, trying to avoid some shots. Time to move into cover. "Sorry! Counter sniping!"
And then that alarmingly huge sniper rifle drops out of nowhere to rest neatly on its tripod.
Return Fire: The cuddles of the soldier world.
Iceman jumps as a bullet from one of the surrounding buildings embeds itself in his ice form's shoulder. He looks down, concentrates for a moment, and the bullet pops back out as the hole closes. He turns his attention to the gumen, "OK, time to close the windows on these guys." And that's quite literally what he starts to do. With quick gestures he starts calling ice into place over the windows with gunmen, closing off their lines of fire.
With quick timing precision and superpowers the team manage to begin thinning the herd. Each of the men is wearing a similar half black half orange mask. Some are knocked out or have their weapons taken others find themselves frozen out of the window having to back off to find a better sniping position. Yet the over all feel remains the same: They are losing and fast.
.500 rounds fly out of the windows towards the gunners in a greatly by the moment lessening barrage, the APC's finally moving to try and keep cover on the last of the trucks as the gates open to welcome in the much needed supplies. the world is chaos slowly being brought to order.
Mecha-Slade is thrown from his position in the suit, which simply hovers there for a few moment. Even blinded this Slade manages to stick the landing, doing a tucking roll as he hits the sewer water. He's just as muscular as the real deal, almost the spitting image, though the ice makes it quite easy for him to slip.
As for the suit? Damaged almost beyond repair it begins to beep out a chipper British voice calling out "Suit self destruct in ten seconds and counting Master Wilson." The interior console lighting up bright red as the helmet slams to the ground. Eyepatched Wilson clone trying to get back up from the fall.
Ice over the window. Not entirely clear on how strong Bobby is, Jack returns to his place by the mecha the same way he left. He's lost his hat, presumably in the brief scuffle with the gunmen, and his skin is pale, almost grey in color, cracking in places. He's bleeding sluggishly from his nose, and the blood is silver, looking almost like mercury. Appearing in a crouch before the mecha. "CONTAIN." he says in a clear voice, and the street opens under it further, tarmac and concrete starting to extend to encase it. He doesn't know how powerful the self destruct will be, but he's doing damage to minimize damage, on one knee, right eye flaring red, and more cracks forming in his skin even as the tarmac changes. This is clearly hurting him. A lot.
Cir is not a great scientist, but she has the impression that the suit has to have a pretty impressive generator, and that if that goes critical anywhere close to the city it is going to cause incalculable collateral damage. She Runs back, though she sees what Jack is trying, she thinks there is a better way, she grabs the suit, and takes off strait up, causing sonic booms as she accelerates to supersonic. She counts down as she flies up, pushing her speed as far as she can and throwing the suit upward before diving down...but is still caught by the explosion and thrown downwards even faster. She hits the ground like a meteor and is temporarily knocked out by the impact.