1002/Rage against the Machinima

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Rage against the Machinima
Date of Scene: 06 April 2020
Location: Tenderloin District
Synopsis: A swap meet in Tinderloin ends in a small gang war when Harley tries to break up a robbery...Power Girl, Naomi, and IMP show up! Heroics follow! Yay heroes.
Cast of Characters: Harley Quinn, Naomi McDuffie, Alton Schmidt, Karen Starr




Harley Quinn has posed:
Tinderloin district is known for its high crime rate!

Harley Quinn knows this, everyone knows this, which is why she's out here tonight... Not to get stress out by beating on some hapless criminals, but because where else can you get a television set at drastically marked down prices at nine thirty on a sunday?

The swap meets down here are legandary.

At least that's how it always starts out innit?

The Clown Princess of Brooklyn is walking through vendors looking at, unquestionably hot, merchandise when someone shouts about a gunman.. which really isn't that big a deal in this part of the city, but she's here... and she's bored, so why not? "Excuse me, pah'den me, I'm a professional hero, what seems ta be tha' prollem?"

That was just a few short minutes ago.

Now? Now there's a full on gang war broken out between two rival groups over who controls the impromptu swap meet and, therefore, gets the protection money. We're talking mass shootings here with the kind of fire power comin' to stop it! "Come 'ON' guys!" Harley shouts, hunkered down behind some old school big screens that are thick enough to stop most small arms fire being flung at her from a dozen or so leather clad hoods. "Alls I said was ya lil hats mad ya look questionably oriented... Yer blowin' this way outta preportions..."

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
There's a district that really Naomi wouldn't normally be in. However, she finally seems to have at least some hang to flying so she got carried away and was flying around the city. She wasn't really planning to fight any crime or the like. She just took off successfully from near Titan's Tower and now is flying above the city. Then...there's guns going off all over and she blinks as she looks down upon the scene.

She acutally flails a little in mid air as she comes to a stop to float before looking down and she just thinks, <Ok, time to go down.>

And then just like that, she slams into the ground like a small asteroid. The ground cracks, debris flies up, she full on superhero landed and then takes a slow breath as she realizes she kinda came in way too hard before she slowly stands up, glowing and looks around before putting her hands to her hip and nodding, "Alright then." She says to no one in particular, "This ends, villains!" She calls out and then looks around slowly, trying to do her best to be really convincing.

She swallows. <Please be convinced...>

Alton Schmidt has posed:
A gang war? Well, that's not the sort of thing IMP expects to find while he flies around the city, looking for crimes to end. Bullets flying around are particularly dangerous...both to him, the gang members themselves, and any hapless civilians wandering by. There's always a hapless civilian somewhere. First thing to do, then, is see about disarming these guys. To that end, he lands on a roof (with his forcefield up, of course), and then ducks down out of the logical angles of fire. Shooting up at something overhead tends to be a little harder.

From there...well, if those guns are made of steel and iron, he just might be able to fling some of those guns away. He can get groups at a time, but not both sides of a conflict firing across the square. So he'll just take the first group first, and attempt some flung guns!

Harley Quinn has posed:
There's a whole lot of people firing guns, a full on gang fight with civilians and ... lord knows what kindo f other metal objects laying around on tables just proving complicated in isolating magnetic fields, nevermind that one whole side is a tech-savey group who used 3-D printers to create ceramic firearms rather than traditional metal frames, though the firing pins are still largely metalic.

IT'S JUST A BIG OL MESS!

The crashing Naomi cracking up the cement proves the most immediate threat.. though Harley really is the most annoying, "Ahhh you guys is fuck't now! I got backup!" Until one of these two mistakes her for a criminal and .. like... force field shoots her into mars or something, who even knows. Sheets are boring.

The Clown Princess pops up over the top of the television that's been largely acting as bullet sponge to hurl a dinner plate from the table beside her.. it is definitely crystal and definitely stolen. And it definitely hurt when it smacks up side one of the gangsters heads wearing the smart ass leather hats that //really do// look a little Village Peopley.

Several guns yank free of hands and clatter to the ground, pulled free by Alton's abilities, and several more turn on Naomi, but that still leaves dozens to shoot at Harley! Who might be fast, but she's not faster than a speeding bullet fast.. That's someone elses schtick.. "oh lawd, I'm too young ta die..."

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
A blink as no one really listens to her and then bullets come her way. Well, this is something she never thought of. Is she tougher than bullets? She assumed after going through a building but one is never sure till bullets slam into you. Then they do and they really don't do much. She then stands tall.

"Fine!" And she notes Harley, throwing a plate and then getting aimed at. She's not super fast but she flies fast so she flies right for Harley to try to snatch her up and move her. Of course, she's also not too good with her strength and speed so it's just as likely that Harley is about to get the breath knocked out of her if and when Naomi is in time to save her from all those bullets.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Metropolis isn't necessarily far away from New York. Coupling this with the fact that she's got an ear in the other city, Karen Starr is keenly aware of when things are going down... Basically anywhere.

    Gunfire is one thing- New York is rife with heroes. One of them will handle it- and it's best not to step on toes, or to make people start thinking that a Kryptonian is going to show up to everything that happens to involve bullets.

    The addition of not one, but -two- familiar voices to the mix complicates things. Quietly, Karen Starr excuses herself from the fourth board meeting this week. She makes her way calmly to her office, and then with a press of a button, sets up the decoys.

    Once that's done, there's a loud Crack that echoes through the streets of Metroplis- completely normal, really- and she's simply gone.

    More than a dozen guns fire on Harley- a death sentence, even with the caliber of hero about. To get to where she's going in time, Naomi would have to outpace sound. Not that she can't- Hell, Power Girl has seen her do it- but it'd be... A bad idea given the situation. This makes the new heroine a little late in a deadly situation.

    Power Girl, however, is right on time. Luckily for the both of them that the guns firing on Harley aren't coming from a bunch of different angles. It means that when Karen arrives, and just floats there between the guns and Harley, the rounds hit her instead- and, harmlessly, crush in upon themselves and fall to the floor.

    The next movement is swift. Gracefully, she reaches for one of Naomi's arms- and if the other super lets her, she'll helpfully redirect Naomi right back at the gunmen she'd just thwarted, turning Naomi into a heroic, golden projectile. It's not a harsh maneuver- she doesn't look angry, and surely isn't trying to hurt the girl- but she is trying to, well help Naomi help. She sort of -assumes- the girl is bulletproof.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
IMP, from his vantage point above, continues to stay low to the roof, and targets the next group of thugs. Once again, there's another magnetic pulse, designed to fling guns off into the wild blue yonder. Hopefully he can disarm them all.

The arrival of Power Girl almost makes IMP feel like he can relax, and this fight is already handled. Except...that's Power Girl, and she's got the rack of the goddess, and the teen boy figures impressing her is a good idea.

Fortunately, he still excercises common sense up there, wielding his magnetics from a reasonably safe location. He has the sort of training that prevents stupidity during a fight. His near death experiences also helps restrain enthusiasm.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Harley, by contrast, is not bullet proof. Not at all.

She isn't even wearing a bullet proof vest! Just a t-shirt and overall shorts and pig-tails and... oh hey someone's barrelling at her like a speeding train. They say your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to get gunned down at a quasi-illegal swap meet, but this seems a little on the nose. People rushing her? Yeah, that's basically par for the course.

But even she knows Naomi isn't going to get there in time to stop all the bullets. So she braces herself, takes a steadying breath, and tilts her head away with eyes tensing closed until her face wrinkles. Face death with a smile, they say? Those people must not have almost died.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Both hands up shielding herself, both hands waving like E Honda trying to palm strike fucking bullets. Unaware that Power Girl just dropped down infront of her like a Kryptonian force-field!

When she's not dead? Harley opens one eye and peeeeers... sees an all too familiar butt and hips.. and breaks into a big ass grin! "PEEEJ!!" Running, she hops up on her back and points over her shoulder, "Run me'at'em babe! TAG TEAM SUPAH COMBO MOVE!"

The rest of the gangs... are boned, honestly. They might not realize it, and they might not agree even if they do, but they absolutely are boned. The ones firing at Power Girl, keep firing until their guns are yanked out of their hands... the ones with printed ceramic weapons, they've got a Naomi charging at them to deal with!

"RETHINK YA LIVES! YA ALL NEED ROLE MODELS!"

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
"Ack!" Is all Naomi gets out when she's basically turned into a balistic missile. She whips around and flies right at the guys, doing her best to slow down and think gentle thoughts as she slams into them. There's likely all kinds of broken bones there. Not Naomi's bones, at least, but then again her bones are probably really hard to break right now. She ends up carefully coming to a stop after she barrels through those guys and then blinks as she looks back, "Hey...uh..." She stands up and then frowns, "not sure how I feel about that." And then she aims a hand and literaly melts a telephone pole down to the ground and calls out, "Ok! Can we stop now!?"

She puts her hands on her hips, "Power Girl here. Me here." She nods her head, "Can't you see you lose yet?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl isn't sure how comfortable she is being recognized by her backside before the rest of the figure she cuts, but all the same, she can't read minds and at this point, Harley would probably get a pass anyways.

    She fully expected the Clown to leap over her and start hitting people with a hammer, but the fact that she jumps onto Karen's back is not exactly something that surprises her. She raises a brow, at Harley, for a moment. There is an acquiescing sigh. Idly, Power Girl takes a few steps forward.

    Apparently, Tag Team Super Combo Move means that she uses heat vision to set some shoes on fire, so that Harley can hit them with a bat or a hammer from her back, unfettered. Between shots, she looks to the others present.

    "Sorry, but I figured- you might not have gotten turning yet, and that you might have appreciated the assist. You're doing good." Thumbs-up. Alton gets a different statement. "Hey. Eyes up." Stern. A little frowny.

    Because he doesn't have Hal's willpower.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
IMP attempts to throw more guns away, this time from a third group. He's at least being productive while staring at the boobs of the goddess. Hypnotic boobs. They could hypnotize people. Like swirling colors. He is getting very...not at all sleepy. Indeed, not that. Poor guy even has a girlfriend and he still can't look away very well. Good thing she isn't here.

Oh, crap, she caught him. ..."...Sorry."

If nothing else, common sense forces him to take eyes off boobs long enough to get low to the ground again to avoid being shot at it. Sure, he's got a forcefield, but why put it to the test when tactics can do that job better?

Harley Quinn has posed:
Honestly, it's better Peej caught him than Harley right?

Who knows how protective /she/ is.

Bitch is crazy.

Water poloing gangsters with a coat rack she picks up along the way. Smacking some poor schmuck across the melon who's just doing some soft shoe tap trying to put out the ignited rubber on the bottom of his feet from Power Girl's eyeball lasers... He was going to shoot at the bullet proof heroine, but then the gun jerks out of his hand and flies... directly at Peej's boobs. Which would be harmless even if it does hit.

But absolutely hilarious for Harley on the Kryptonians back!

"BOING!"

Those with ceramic weapons being assailed by naomi are definitely starting to realize this might not be ending in their favor. Several throw down weapons and put their hands up as she shouts for them to stop, "YES MA'AM, just... can we maybe get an official ruling on whether we own this territory or not?" As if that's at all important to anyone here but them.

"Yeah, I'm kinna curious ma'self!" Harley shouts.

And Harley.

Naomi McDuffie has posed:
A smile at Power Girl and then Naomi blinks and looks around at all the guys. She puts her hands on her hips and looks over to the guys and then at Harley before nodding, "Ya know what? I got a ruling." She floats up a little and clenches her fists, "I own this territory!" She calls out, "And if I catch anyone causing trouble here again." She holds up her clenched fist, aims it at one of the tables and blasts it openly to pieces before she looks back around, "I'll be very upset."

And with that, and the fact that it is a school night...she shoots up into the sky to float there for a moment for effect and then shoots off toward school...and past it...and way past it. And has to turn around and come back. And then realize she's glowing and shouldn't land near the school while glowing and then has to sneak back to her dorm room...

Karen Starr has posed:
    Alton and Harley aren't likely to care a whole lot, but Karen somewhat does. As Naomi lays claim to this area, there's a small sigh. She'll have to have a chat about that- it's the right move. She can't really deny that. Problem is that she's not sure Naomi understands the gravity of it- but, all the same, if she's bulletproof... This place isn't super dangerous for her. All told, there are a couple of nods in her direction from Power Girl... But also some words of caution.

    "In the future, tables are fine- but I'd avoid anything Public Works has to replace." She gestures, then, to the pole that had been melted, while idly fishing a pistol out of the lake of cleavage it had quite literally fallen into. This she hands to Harley, because there was no point trying to keep it from her.

    There's a moment where her face hits her palm as she watches Naomi stop and turn around in the sky.

    Then, once her hand is off of her face, she calls out to the villains of the moment. "Okay. You heard her. On the ground, hands behind your head. Don't make me chase you, I tend to break legs."

    Harley's loud BOING didn't go unnoticed, but now's not the time.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
Lake Cleavage. Oh, for a chance to take a dip into THAT lake. Still, the battle appears done, and that means he can fly down from the roof he'd been using as cover. IMP flies down...and as some of the bad guys kneel...he touches one of them, and he collapses into laughter. Another bursts into tears when touched. Another looks depressed...

IMP figures it serves the dual purposes of eliminating his magnetic 'charge' that can affect his own mood, and incapacitating the gangbangers. Has to be careful about that, or he'll end up as wacky as Magneto once was.

He leaves his forcefield up, of course. It's nowhere near safe enough to drop it.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Harley slides down off Peej's back once she's got the pistol handed up to her, holding it relatively well, at least like someone who knows how to handle a firearm.. even if she is a whole lot stronger than any girl her size should be. "YA FUCKIN' HEARD'ER SHIT DICKS! DOWN!" It's not that they're not intimidated by Power Girl, they absolutely are. She absolutely will break their legs... this is a documented and well proven fact.

Harley, however, might kill them.

She boot kicks one of them in the side of the face when he tries to push back up and knocks him straight the hell out, "AH! Nobody, freakin' moves..." Turning a small circle, pointing at dozens of people in the span of a few seconds. "Now.. ya heard tha glowin' lady wit tha flyin' powah.. yer on her territory, she claim't it.. an' she didn't say so, but she name't me enforcer.. WHICH MEANS.. I /will/ bust yer bitch ass like a cantelope!" Just like nose-broke George laying there clutching his face crying.

Head tilting, she turns to Peej, blows a massive bubble from the same gum she's been chewing for a several weeks, and winks. "See? Good guy... I even pull't mah kick on tha' one..." Pointing at the bleeder with the barrel of the pistol held down at an angle towards his head.

When IMP appears, "Sup." Bobbing her head in an up nod, piglets bouncing around her super pale face and super blonde head. Smile big enough to wrinkle the heart tattooed under her right yee. "Is yer powah mood affectation? Cus tha' would be killah in tha psychology world."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Immediately, Karen's face is back in her hands, which idly work at her features as if she'd just paused in a thirty hour reading session. She lets out another sigh. She really hadn't intended for the other woman to go making threats with the firearm. Once she's finished... A rather long exhale, she moves forward.

    There's a button or two pressed on her glove, and the police are notified of the incident if they weren't already. Karen, for her part, removes the guns and makes sure that they're unloaded and collected for the police as evidence. The sheer -amount- of witnesses should be enough.

    Regardless, her last visit is Harley, to whom she holds out the open bag. "It's evidence, Harl." she states- taking away the Clown's, gun privileges on account of the, though know, pointing it at people.

    "You did good, though. Up until you threatened to kill some people, you did great." Thumbs up. Bag still open.

Alton Schmidt has posed:
"No, Harley. It's magnetics. What's happening to them...I call it synaptic static. Their nervous system and bio-electricity of their brains are being affected directly, but I don't have much control over what effect it has. Pretty random. Problem is, the charge will affect ME if I don't get rid of it into someone else. ...I think not getting rid of the charge is why Magneto made some of the choices he made. He wanted the best for all of us, but his own charge altered his perception of what was best. Don't touch me skin to skin, or you'll get a charge too. It's pretty automatic." Which is unfortunate, because it means he can't accept any affection after a fight. And that damn charge can last for an entire day unless he gets rid of it.

And then along comes PG. IMP is trying to look her in the eye. He really is. He's successful at that maybe 1 time in 3. But goddamnit, the kid's trying. In support, though, "...I don't approve of killing either. If I thought you were gonna shoot, I'd have thrown that gun away too." Unless it's a ceramic gun, then maybe not so much.

Harley Quinn has posed:
There's a but left unspoken at the end of you did great and it's as clear to Harley as if Peej had said it out loud.. The obvious elation in the Clownettes face withers like a plant covered in battery acid. Shoulders slumping forward, smile crumbling down into a near catatonic neutrality, and eyes dropping to stare at her feet...

The gun she was holding hangs at her side for a second, but then comes up to drop into the opne bag held out towards her in Peej's hands. "Thanks." Reserved, quiet, blue eyes glancing around behind long lashes blinking over them slowly... Ruby red lips quirked to the side.

"Should I leave befoah the cops get heah?" This is always the unknown for her:

Where does she sit with the law?

Glancing to IMP, "Hand ta God, I foahgot ya was theah..." Holding her palm up, the other over her own breasts which are a little bit better covered than Power Girls, in fairness. Also not as big. "Magneto... he was tha' old fella tha' did all tha stuff ovah at tha' one place tha' got fuck't up recently right? Wit tha lame ass lookin' helmet an' purple cape?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl opens her mouth to speak to Alton- perhaps about Genosha- but the boy can barely handle that she's there, and Harley's starting to look sad. The latter takes precedence. She kneels down a bit, making sure that she's closer to Harley's height.

    "Hey, no, you don't understand." she states, taking the woman's shoulders and turning her around to face all the people around them. "Nobody died. Barely even any casualties. You got a little carried away, -but-, you still did good." There's the but- but she's flipped the script. Bad first, BUT, good second. End on a high note to bring the spirits back up.

    "No. Everyone here saw what you did." She pauses, then, and offers nobody this small shrug. "You're not wrong. That's... Magneto, alright. Genosha was a tragedy."

Alton Schmidt has posed:
"Yeah...the King of the country of Genosha that just got zapped. It's a great loss to the world, despite his choices. I always wanted to meet the old man, but..." Well, boom. "...there was so much I could've learned from him, about myself, the way my powers work, all of it. Too late now. But yeah, helmet and purple cape, that's him. Or it was." Now just a memory. Man that bites. All the things he could've learned...

And once more, the Grand Tetons enter his field of vision...and he tries to force his eyes up again. Comeon, damnit, you have a girlfriend, why can't you look away from those things? At least he's not staring at Harley, apparently all lesser boobs must bow before the Grandest of Tetons. "Between this and the Hellfire club, Harley, I think your reputation's going up. You can't change the past...but you can make a new future. That's what this whole redemption thing is all about." IMP starts to lift into the sky again, after touching a few more gangbangers, who laugh, cry, or get angry, or even depressed or joyful or who knows what...all seemingly at random. More discharge.

"...I better go. There is such a thing as school in the morning." And he starts heading for the sky and away.

Harley Quinn has posed:
It is, as one might imagine, Power Girl that brightens the Harley sad frenzy and steadily the smile returns. Reaching up, she wraps her hands around Peej's wrists where they extend out from her shoulders, nodding her understanding.. even as she looks around at all the people groaning, but with nobody gurgling their last bloody breath..

"Would ya look't tha'..." She murmurs, eyes flicky looking over towards mistah self control ovah theah, "Whatcha lookin' at bud?" Because she's finally caught them eyes dipping down to the window into Karen's... well not her soul, but definitely into her cleevage. Stepping closer, she tilts her head to put her cheek against said window, which isn't hard with the height difference... This also puts her eye to eye with Alton.

"Ya lose somethin' somewheahs in heah?" Wiggle pointing at the open front of the titty window of Peej's costume.

Blue eyes up to Peej, then back over to Alton. HISSSS... Squinty eyed, teeth bared. "Mine."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen was happy and smiling as she corrected Harley's mood. All of this was growth. She hadn't looked back at Alton yet, but she could only assume where he was staring, and that's one of the reasons why all of her attention was on Harley. However, nothing good lasts forever.

    Power Girl rolls her eyes a bit as Harley starts to get protective. "Harl-" she starts, though she probably couldn't stop the other woman now without grabbing her by the shoulders and lifting her off of the ground. Which, she's ready to do if Harley starts making a course for the teen.

    "He's- he's a kid, it's fine-" Then there's hissing and baring teeth and Karen is slightly embarrased for the both of them, but she can't help but admit it's cute, in a way. Can't bring herself to stop Harley, either.

    It's around then that the police start arriving, and Karen breathes a sigh of relief. That'll end the conflict. She hopes.

Harley Quinn has posed:
Harley glances up at Karen, then at the cops, and straights from her head leaning against Peej's chest. Tugging at the straps of her coveralls, her t-shirt, brushing off from some dusk from one shoulder. "I aint gonna embarass ya wit tha polices by hangin' all ovah ya." Said up to Karen with an elbow jutting out to knock against her hip, "But if'n ya want ta give me a fly home aftah, I'll act like I call't Ubah... Air Ubah.. Powah Air Ubah.. ya evah th- oh right, yer not a taxi." A finger taps against the side of her sharp nose, blue eye winking towards the heroine.

So there's Harley, with Power Girl, when the cops show up. Hands on her hips because, haha suckers, I didn't do it this time! Smilin' all wide at them, "Yeah, it was touchin' go theah foah a lil bit whiles I was handlin' them by mah'self, but then I call't in the big guns..." Thumbing towards Peej, who she absolutely did not really call in so much as scream like she was going to die and Peej responded to keep her from dying.

Totally that old tale.