1171/Double Down Dockside

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Double Down Dockside
Date of Scene: 14 April 2020
Location: City Docks
Synopsis: While on patrol, Nightwing and Flamebird are ambushed by Profesor Pyg and Leather. Things look dire until Red X and Batwoman come to the rescue.
Cast of Characters: Dick Grayson, Bette Kane, Damian Wayne, Kate Kane




Dick Grayson has posed:
Since Nightwing decided to invite Flamebird into Bludhaven, he figured he should make sure she knows her way around the city. At the moment, he's in the Nightbird, figuring that she would enjoy the comforts of the car over the idea of having to piggy back on the Wingcycle. Currently the car is moving down the docks, on a standard patrol as Dick is explaining things as he drives, already kitted up.

"After the quake, Bludhaven's ports were overloaded and it became a boomtown of sorts. All the major companies set up ports and storage areas - but when the President rescinded the No Man's Land order, the ports quickly went bust." he says as he peers around him. "So there was all these updated docks with noone using them. Makes great cover for those wanting to sneak in stuff without having to deal with the troubles that go into Gotham."

Bette Kane has posed:
"And still be able to transport it from here to Gotham if need be...overland?" Flamebird wonders, watching the passage of the docks outside as he drives along. She's been her usual upbeat self, excited to be shown around.

Not just shown around. But shown around IN COSTUME. It makes things a whole lot more of a bigger deal in her mind.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Shown around, in costume, in the Batmobile light. That's got to count for something, right? Especially since the Nightbird is a little more... rumbly? than the Batmobile. Not all of us can afford jet turbine propelled transport. "Right." comes the response from Nightwing as he glances to the left. "From here, it's only a few miles to the Vincefienkle Bridge to cross over into Gotham." he explains. "I usually have to be extra watchful around here, and it's good to have an extra pair of eyes when it comes to patrol."

Of course, he was expecting Bette to be paying attention out of the right side of the car, so his attention is lax on that side, which is why the pair of them miss the semi-truck that had just pulled into the docks underneath the cover of darkness. "It's looking pretty quiet at the moment." he offers casually. "If you're not busy tomorrow, want to go to a party? I have a membership at the Hellfire Club, was thinking we could check it out."

So it's not completely her fault, he's a little distracted as well.

Bette Kane has posed:
No, she doesn't notice it. But isn't it normal for there to be semi's at the dock? Nevermind exactly what it was that he was literally just telling her about everything going around here. That would be...well, she'd have to be paying more attention to the world around her then her own little bubble.

"I went there for my birthday. Interesting place...amazing bathrooms." Bette glances over at him, a bright smile spreading across her face, "Don't they have some really interesting parties there?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Yeah, this one is Oktoberfest themed. I guess they couldn't wait actual October..." Dick is explaining. "...with drindl's and lederhosen..." And he would say more on the matter but just as the Nightbird rounds the corner, they stumble upon a sight. A pair of armed men that are watching the docking area are watching the area, and they do notice the car. "Tell the master!" one of them tells the other -- and in that brief moment, Bette may notice that the pair are wearing butcher's aprons, and their faces look as if they have been pulled and stretched out almost comically. Or like a kewpie doll, the hair is a brilliant red curls. A living kewpie doll... that is running towards the Nightbird.

"What the hell?!" Dick manages, just at the Dollotron gets next to the car and he //explodes//. A living, human bomb. The explosion has enough force that it flips the Nightbird as Dick fights for control. "HOLD ON!" he cries out as they tilt over onto the side and then roll over, the car sliding on it's hood for several feet before colliding with a container.

There's a low groan from the driver's seat where Dick is, his forehead cut from where he banged his head against the car's roof. And approaching the car is a man wearing a ... pig's head over his head. "Well, lokee here! A couple of extra people that came seeking perfection! They already dolled up, but we can do sooo much more, soooooee!" he calls out.

At the truck, there's another woman. She's thin, wiry, her skin nearly grey and pulled taunt, like leather, her hands ending in three sharp claws as she frowns. "You asked for a dozen, I get paid for the extras, Professor Pyg!" Leather announced, hands on her hips.

"You get what I pay ya, and ya like it, girlie! Less you want to be one my dolls too..."

"No... no that's okay." the woman responded, ready to depart with her money for the women she smuggled in for Pyg.

Bette Kane has posed:
The living Kewpie doll is such a messed up sight that Bette just has no time to react before they are flipping end over end, and she does the worst thing, she tenses and grabs for the roof of the car.

Everyone knows that the reason most drunks walk away is because they are relaxed. Boneless. But not her, she doesn't appear to realize that she's her own worst enemy in all this. Much like Dick she bangs her head, but that's not where the real damage comes from.

Instead it's the fact that in flipping and trying to hold herself in place, she pops her shoulder out of joint, causing Bette to bite back a cry of surprise and pain. The burning pain blazing a trail through her focus and leaving nothing but ash behind.

Dick Grayson has posed:
The Nightbird is currently upside down, the front end of it smashed into a container. The flames of a blown up Dollotron are nearby, and Professor Pyg, in his signature mask, is approach the car, snorting in amused victory. "Hoohoo. Got a two for one. That's sweet. Like a Ken and Barbie. I'll make you a matching set, and put you on display in my Circus!" he comments, reaching for his bone saw, but pauses. "Leather, come here and open this door!"

"Do I get extra?" Leather asks, the grey-skinned woman frowning as she shakes her head. "You should just let them burn, Pyg. They're no good to you."

"That's not your decision to make, and yeah, I'll pay you. Pay you what you deserve." he responds.

Dick hits the communication device on the console of the car to send out a quick message before it goes out. "Flamebird, we got to get out of here..." he grunts, reaching for one of the birdarangs and pops it open to use the blade to cut at her seatbelt. "Try to get out on your side, they're coming around to mine."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     The night hides the incoming monster. Blood red fur and bat wings flap towards the area of Nightwing and Firebird. It's rider, in League if Assassins garb, and his head inside a helmet, emblazoned with a stylized metal skull.

  A harrowing SKREEEE can be heard from a mile away, but quickly the red behemoth named Goliath swoops in, between Professor Pyg and the Nightbird, massive claws scraping through the concrete of the ground, and a mighty roar following the landing. Goliath's rider hops off the beast's shoulders and the boy removes his sword, ready to strike. No words, just a boy and his bat dragon standing their ground.

Kate Kane has posed:
When Dick's distress call came over comm's, Kate was fortunate enough to be in a position to actually respond. Revving up Red Knight One, she weaves through what little traffic there is at this time of the evening, embracing the adrenaline of riding a souped up bike at this sort of speed and in these sorts of conditions. Really it was one of the best parts of the job.

As she nears the docks, she speaks into her comm's device. "Only a couple of minutes out now." Not feeling the need to say anything else, she continues to focus on the road ahead of her.

When she finally arrives at the docks it's accompanied by several loud screeches and rev's of the bike's engine. Coming to a hard stop, she hops off and assumes a combat stance. Yes, she's still a ways off from Pyg and company, but unlike Damian, she does have at least one thing to say. "Didn't know it was roasted pork night tonight."

Bette Kane has posed:
"What.." Bette is momentarily dazed, and what smarts she might otherwise have seem to have been knocked around in her head until they are mush. Right up until Dick starts to cut her out of her seatbelt with a birdarang.

As soon as things are almost cut through she's pushing at the door, trying to force it open which happens to be a little harder then usual because metal bends in a terrible way, and makes a terrible sound. But as soon as the door is open and the seatbelt is off she's practically falling out the door onto the ground. Because this is not at all the worst time to fall out of a car and remind everyone she's all thumbs at this sometimes.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Pyg hears the wretch of metal, and calls out, "No no, pet! You stay right there and let Professor Pyg come and take care of you!" And just as he's starting to move around the wrecked car to go after Bette, that's when there's a SKREEEE that shakes everyone to their bones, as the dragon comes flapping in and lands. And while Dick may not recognize the dragon - he does recognize the garb of the kid on the back of it. "Wait, you got a Bat-Dragon? I'm so lodging a complaint." he mutters.

Not that he has much time as Leather wrenches the door free with a screech of metal. "Catch!" she snarls at Damian as she wings the door at him like a frisbee to attempt to hit the dragon or knock Damian off of it.

Kate's arrival is noticed by Pyg. "More and more, they come for me, to join my collection, I'll make them all perfect! They'll be my family, I'll put them on display, yes, they will be perfect, beautiful dolls!"

With that, he's grabbing his bone saw to prepare to rush at Kate, but not before there's a shadow looming behind her. The other Dollotron from before, with it's scraggly red hair and distorted features, reaching to wrap his arms around the redheaded Batwoman!

Damian Wayne has posed:
     The door chucked at Damian gets intercepted by Goliath, a maw picking it out of the air as Damian starts to run his way up the dragon's back, jumping off Goliath's head and that sharp katana of Damian's coming into play.

  The boy swipes wide with the sword, one horizontal, another up from the lower end of things.

  Damian still keeps quiet, instead keeping his focus on an enemy he doesn't know about yet. At the very least, Leather is indeed strong, but Damian is deadly with a sword.

Kate Kane has posed:
Sensing the looming shadow behind her, and seeing Pyg pick up his bonesaw, she works out a quick plan in her head. Diving forward, Kate rolls to one side, pulling out her grappling gun and shoots it at the Dollotron's head. The Dollotron doesn't even need to move, it flies past its head. Missed, right? Then there's a clank as it connects to a nearby shipping container. With the press of a button, Kate flies directly up and at the Dollotron, knees slightly buckled and braced for impact with it's head.

Not even waiting for the grappler to reel her all the way, or even to see what the Dollotron might be doing, she presses a button to release it and goes tumbling to the ground, landing a little harder than she'd like (with a muffled grunt), but still able to roll back up to her feet and start running. Gloved hand reaching to her belt to pull out one of her own batarangs, this one shaped like two hinged claws, and throwing it at Pyg, her aim meant for the arm carrying that bone saw.

Bette Kane has posed:
Ut oh.

Bette stares for a minute, and then her brain finally seems to unscramble itself, and she starts to get to her feet, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that Dick is actually following her mouth of the car.

Assuming he's far more well trained in exiting wrecked vehicles then she is, she turns her attention back to taking in the surroundings. First. There's a bat dragon. Then there is Kate. And Damian with a sword. And she has no idea what Kate is actually doing, and there is a serious risk that she's going to mess it up when she goes running at Pyg to help out.

Dick Grayson has posed:
As the door is grabbed and ripped away by Goliath, Leather steps back a few paces as Damian comes charging at her. "I don't get paid for this!" she complains, but she brings up her arms, that thick skin pulled taunt around her limbs absorbing the strikes and deflecting them. She lashes out at the boy with her clawed fingers, trying to strike at him, and if she hits, she hits hard.

Pulling himself from the wreckage of the car, Nightwing grits his teeth. "Her name's Leather! Super strength, hardened skin!" he yells helpfully at Damian as he holds his side for a second to try to catch his breath. He'll need a couple of moments to recover from having his bell rung.

Kate's attack on the Dollotron is a success as the large, disfigured man stumbles back several steps, a gurgled cry of pain. Apparently they either don't -- or more likely, can't -- talk. Just as Kate throws the batarang towards Pyg, he brings up his bone saw to knock it aside. "You're already a feisty redhead, but I'll make you perfect. You'll be my magnum opus!" he crows.

And that's when, from behind Kate, the Dollotron she knocked over stumbles towards her, and Bette may realize what's about to happen - the same thing that happened to the Nightbird.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's sword slashes make contact, but the skin is tough. Nevermind for Damian. His resolve is high.

  His sword is held up to guard, but even then, he is light, and she hits hard. The teen is tossed back towards Goliath, who quickly stands, to catch Damian as he is sent flying back.

  Inside that helmet, his brow furrows, as he connects to his bat-dragon protector. Who lets him back on the ground before Damian starts running. A well placed jump, and he continues to swipe that sword, vertically this time, slashing and slashing as he makes his way down. He doesn't care how much force he's using. This was the first action he's had since before he met his father.

Kate Kane has posed:
Watching Pyggie knock away her Batarang with the bonesaw, Kate frowns ever so slightly and considers her plan of engagement of this weirdo. The crap spewing out of his mouth is almost enough to make her roll her eyes, and while she can hear the Dollotron stumbling along behind her, she still feels the need to deliver a response.

"Did you just tell a woman that she's not already perfect, Porky? Been locked away in a basement for too long have you?" The snark delivered at someone who clearly needed to take a look in the mirror himself before making any sort of social commentary on the appearance of others, she decides now is probably the time to deal with the Dollotron rather than Pyg.

Still moving, she veers off towards a nearby light pole, reaches an arm out and swings herself around to start running directly at the Dollotron. As she closes in, she jumps up, cocks a fist back and activates her gloves to let out an electric discharge should she make contact with the thing as she tries to punch it right in the head.

Bette Kane has posed:
As Bette runs towards Pyg she spots the Dollotron is still up and moving, and a flash of irritation flashes across her face. It's because of THAT the car was flipped over.

Then it dawns on her and she starts to run faster towards Kate and the Dolloton that she running towards. But instead of aiming for the Dollotron she aims right for Kate, and lowers her uninjured shoulder so that she can run straight into Kate and try to knock her away from the Dollotron.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Leather grits her teeth. And Damian's resolve is strong, and with that dragon, the smuggler is finally intimidated -- as if she had just seen Batman. "I'm not getting paid enough for this, Pyg! The deal's off!" she cries out as she deflects another sword attack and swipes at Damian before she's turning to run away from Damian and towards the truck. In the trailer of the truck, there's the pounding of several hands that beat down on the side of the trailer, against the aluminum. People, there's people in that trailer.

As Kate rushes for the Dollotron, the large man lumbers forward and just as Bette slams into Kate to knock her aside, the Dollotron //EXPLODES//, just as the one that took out Nightwing's car did. Apparently Pyg has made these creatures to explode.

With Leather trying to get away, Pyg snorts. "I paid for that meat, you bring that back!" he yells - but like Leather, he's trying to retreat as well, using the explosion of his Dollotron to slip into the shadows of the containers to try to escape.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Leather's claws dig through the boy's garb, the white of the leather now red with blood. Her earlier attack had hit hard, he knew it, but was damned if he was going to show that it hurt him.

  Damian's ears had heard the slamming of hands on the trailer, and with that he had realized what was going on. Turning to Goliath, Damian had jumped to land on the beast's shoulders, and leading him towards the truck, the goal here: keeping it from leaving the scene.

  Standing in front of the truck, Goliath's yellow eyes stared down Leather, and a healthy roar is let out again, intimidation here is the game, meanwhile, Damian goes for the trailer, working to detach it.

Kate Kane has posed:
Before Kate can make contact with Dollotron, she's getting tackled. She lets out a grunt as the force of Bette's impact drives her back. Body armor or no, that's still going to smart, and that's just the beginning! Just as she hits the ground and lets out her breath, the damn thing explodes, the heat singing some of the red wig atop her cowl, and the force of the explosion delivering another gut punch.

Muttering a curse or two, she lays on the ground for a good minute or so trying to catch her breath. The pain was bad enough, but it was having the breath knocked out of you a few times back to back that was the worst part. Rolling to her side, she looks over at Bette to see how she might be faring, limply reaching a hand out over towards her since she doesn't have it in her to speak just yet.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Kate will discover that Bette's currently out at the moment, the explosion of the Dollotron causing her to hit awkwardly as she landed and she's not getting back up at the moment. But she's breathing, and alive. That's the important part.

Goliath causes Leather to slam on the brakes, coming to a halt in front of the dragon as Damian goes to work. "Move!" she yells at the creature, blaring the horn, and trying to drive forward to ram the dragon.

Nightwing holds his side in pain as he finally regains his bearings. And he starts to head over to Kate and Better. "You alright?" he asks the pair.

Professor Pyg slips away in the darkness -- but there's little doubt that he will be around again.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Goliath steadies himself, spreading his wings and holding out his paws while roaring to work against the truck. Buying Damian time to disconnect.

  The boy soon finds the lever that operates the coupling lock, giving it a couple of kicks to release the trailer to the truck.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's still on the ground nudging Bette as Dick comes over. "No, but she took the worst of it I think." Her voice is hoarse and she coughs. "We both had the hell beat out of us from that blast, but I can make it back. She could use some help getting some place to rest this off, though." With a few groans, she pushes herself up to a sitting position and holds a hand up to Nightwing. "Hand up?" She asks, wincing at an ache in her shoulder. "Yeah, going to be icing this all up for a day or two."

Dick Grayson has posed:
The tires of the truck screech on the concrete of the dock as Leather just wants to get away at this point. She's got the pedal fully down to the metal -- there's a loud pneumatic hiss of pressure being released as Damian kicks the lines free and the trailer coupling comes free of the kingpin, dislodging the trailer from the fifth wheel - the truck is now seperated from the trailer.

Nodding his head, Dick frowns as he kneels down next to the blonde and checks her over. "I have a place nearby, we can put her there for the night." he starts to say when he hears the hiss from the trailer. "Frick..." he mutters, and pushes up. He's not sure what else to call him at this point, so he goes with his gut, "Robin, you got that?!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Yes, mission accomplished. With the trailer freed from the truck, Goliath steps aside, allowing Leather to make her get away, for now at least. There were other priorities.

  Damian and Goliath start to walk to the back of the trailer, the small leading the hulking dragon, his sword sheathed behind him, and his chest bloodied. It was only then that he clutched his side, allowed himself to show the pain from the cracked rib underneath. His assassin uniform did nothing to guard against hits like that. "Just get them out of there." He says, tapping the trailer's side. His voice was heavily modulated, and the red X of the skull started to glow.

Kate Kane has posed:
"If he needs your help, go." Kate tells Nightwing as she looks over in the direction Damian/Robin must have gone. "I'm banged up, but I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves to keep her safe." With a few more grunts and groans, she finally gets to her feet and stumbles a step or two, holding a hand out to take Nightwing by the shoulder for a moment so she can steady herself. After she shakes her head, she looks down at Bette and licks her bottom lip. "Really hate seeing her like this, but I owe her a night on the town for saving my ass."

Dick Grayson has posed:
"He's got it..." Nightwing starts to say, just as Damian does the classic Looney Tunes of holding and holding and then Goliath steps aside and the truck lurches and screeches and careens out of control, slamming into one of the empty containers, and there's a long horn tone as Leather is hunched over the wheel, unconscious. Hey, Damian found a way to knock her out!

"It's payback for you saving our asses." Dick points out to Kate, a brief grip on her shoulder as he starts to head over to Damian -- and he notices the change in costume. "So, you've made some changes." he offers to the young man. "You need to have that looked at." That's pointed out to the rib. "You got someone?" Concern is on the edge of his voice, as he's moving to the back of the trailer to open it.

In the back of the trailer are a dozen women, smuggled into the United States. Apparently they were being sold to Pyg. For reasons.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's companion catches up with him, shuffling at his hand, and the wound on his chest. To which Damian only reaches out and places his hand above Goliath's nose, giving the beast a reassuring pet. The Bat-Dragon knew Damian better than anyone in Gotham, and also that Damian would hardly allow himself to appear hurt.

  "Changes? Working with what I have. Not that it is much." The costume was exactly the one he wore in the cell where they first met, only with the addition of laces on his boots, and the helmet that masked his identity. "I am fine." He retorts, before Goliath snerfs with reproach to Damian.

  The ladies were looked over, and a sigh from the helmet. "Bludhaven PD will help you all." He adds, looking at the rest of the group.



Kate Kane has posed:
Kate nods to Nightwing before he heads on over to Damian. She watches for a moment, and then kneels down next to Bette and begins to search her for any injuries that might require first aid. Not seeing anything, she lets out a sigh of relief and stands back up. She looks over to Nightwing and Damian and what they're doing as she leans against a nearby lightpole. Digging around into one pouch of ye olde utility belt, she pops a small vial and empties two pills into her open mouth, then swallows them down, wincing a little.

The vial is popped back into the utility belt and she calls out, "So is this what they were up to? Porky needs to be brought down, and quick."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing sighs and rubs a hand over his face. "Alright. When you get a chance, I'll see what I can do to help." he's not sure when it comes to Damain. But it's probably going to have to start with Bruce. "Thank you for the help." he offers to the younger one. "Now unless you want to stick around and speak to the authorities... I'll help get Flamebird clear."

He blows out a breath. Getting Bette home may be it's own challenge, but. "You think the dragon can help drop off Flamebird someplace safe?"