13254/War on Christmas

War on Christmas
Date of Scene:	12 November 2022
Location:	Midtown - Founders Island
Synopsis:	A department store's early Christmas sale is attacked by Calendar Man in a Thanksgiving themed attempted heist, but Gotham's heroes, and one out of town visitor, clip his wings.
Cast of Characters:	Austin Reese, Phoebe Beacon, Stephanie Brown, Audra Meridian, Tim Drake

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Austin Reese has posed:
Gabel's Department Store is one of the biggest and most well regarded department stores in Gotham City. Located right in the middle of Midtown, the building has been there for over a hundred years as the same store. Five stories, it's basically like a miniature mall inside of the store, with departments separated over all five floors and even its own food court on the third.

About a week ago, the ad blitz started. 'PRE-THANKSGIVING CHRISTMAS DOORBUSTER DEALS!' Everyone else does Black Friday sales, Gabels has decided to move things a few weeks earlier to be the only ones doing it. It seems to have worked.

A day ago, people started to camp out in front of the store. Three hours ago, the doors opened and several hundred deal seekers rushed inside. The GCPD has been doing their best to do crowd control, and the poor harried workers are doing what they can to help each of the customers, but there's far more people than workers. It's chaos and it's three in the morning and do these people REALLY need clothes or a big screen TV that bad?

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Ugh. I hate Black Friday. I hate Black Friday creep. Pretty soon Black Friday's going to preceed 'Back to School' and the hottest nonsense of 2025 will come out in the fall of 2024." Balm states, her arms crossed over her chest as she eyeballs the crowds across the way. She's here on special detail, providing emergency medical backup in case of shopper stampeed.

    She was actually supposed to be sleeping in preparation for an ethics class in the morning, but instead she was here.

    Coffeeless.

    "Also no reason to be testy to the workers. It's not their fault they only had six of the doorbuster TV's." she remarks, adjusting her mask a moment as she tries to get medical scans -- but there are so many people. Soooo many crowds. It makes it difficult for the AI to focus.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown blows a big bubble with her bubble gum. She pops it and pulls it back into her lips to chew again. She's currently lying in the lower loop of the "B" on the Gabel's Department Store sign. A little camera affixed beside her and pointed down at the crowd lets her keep an eye on things without needing to lean over the edge and maybe get noticed.

Which means she's just lying back in her Batgirl costume, feet crossed and hands behind her head. << So I'm not saying its an art form, per se. Just that it's kind of like an art form, naming your wifi. I mean look at the ones we have going in the area. In addition to "Gabel Customer Wifi", and StarlingCoffeeFi... we have "Silence of the LANs" and "Wham Bam Thank you LAN" and "Wi-Fight The Feeling". Come on, those don't bring a little tear to your eye? >>

She blows another bubble and pops it, then checks the camera feed. "Man, they just keep showing up out here too. No Joker or Penguin though. How's it look inside? Also if you see any good gift ideas for Bruce, let me know. He's so tough to buy for."

Audra Meridian has posed:
"Uuuugh I can't believe I'm doing this," Audra mutters to herself as she rubs her eyes with the back of her arm. She had no intention of ever being out on one of these early morning pre-holiday shopping fiascos... yet here she was. Looking like she barely dragged herself out of bed, even when technically she had been sleeping in the back of her SUV a few blocks down instead of camping out in the cold.

Not for herself. But there was a very specific thing her younger sister wanted as a gift for someone, but couldn't go herself because she had too many early morning classes at Metropolis U to worry about, and had begged and begged and begged some more until dear older sister agreed to make the trip for her.

At least Audra has the physical presence being a rough athletic woman to wedge her way through the crowd easily enough. Just get the damn thing and get back out. Should be easy.

It's never that easy.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Just be glad Anarky isn't here with us. The sight might turn him back to villainy," comes Red Robin's voice behind Balm, followed by the crunch of rooftop gravel under his boots as he approaches. One hand extends in peace offering via a disposable cup of steaming cinnamon latte, oatmilk instead of regular. His other hand is occupied with his own drink, which is less festive but also much more loaded down with espresso to satiate his caffeination needs. "And honestly, not sure I could blame him," Tim muses before taking a sip.

    A lesser mortal might have scalded their tongue, but at this point in his life, Tim is immune.

    With his free hand, he taps at the control panel inset into his left gauntlet. "<<I'm seeing an FBI Surveillance Van from over here.>>" And then another (non-wifi) signal pops up, accessible to those with feeds from the Bat-computer, labelled only "Batgirl's coffee." It points to a set of coordinates that are, oh, let's say about 5 feet away from Tim and Phoebe's current position, where a cardboard cup holder and its contents are sitting on an AC unit atop the roof.

    A few moments (and more tapping) later, Steph gets texted a link to an Etsy search for "best gifts father-in-law". Tim is ever so helpful.

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin was off on his own, watching one of the side entrances of the store, <"These people know you can buy stuff online now, right?"> He asks over comms, taking a sip of his energy drink. He's one to talk, he's standing here in the dark watching a loading dock. <"Got another truck coming in. Looks like they're getting another late shipment. Do you see anything on the schedule?">

The truck was not on any shipping schedule, should anyone get into the Gabel's network and go into their database. Indeed, once the back door of the truck pulled up to the loading dock door, the rolling door started to open, as someone in a Gabel's outfit started waving the figures inside of the truck in.

Inside of the store, multiple masked figures moved through the warehouse, rapidly spreading out through the levels of the store, taking the already harried employees hostage as they go, until the group reaches the main floor and burst out onto the sales floor.

It's here where anyone inside of the store can get a good look at the people, all of them are dressed in outfits reminicent of the suits worn by pilgrims, but the type that you learned about in 1st grade, but upgraded with tactical pouches for the automatic rifles they're carrying. An upgrade from the muskets and blunderbusses.

Their leader, while wearing a similar suit, also is wearing a large turkey mask. It seems to be able to amplify his voice, as he shouts out over the crowd.

"For too long, Christmas has been encroaching on the other holidays! First it came for Thanksgiving, and then Halloween! This year there were Christmas decorations up in August! We're taking back our days, and starting with all of you! Now you'll be putting all of that money towards a far superior holiday!"

After the speech, the crowd reacts as one does when a bunch of armed, masked people show up. They panic and run. The GCPD officers that are on scene immediately start trying to regain control, and police bands light up immediately, along with 911 calls and posts on Twitter and Instagram. It's pretty much pure chaos.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <<In all honesty the more impressive your WiFi name, how much nerd cred do you get? Because mine when I was a kid was 'MyWiFeeFiFoFum'.>> she states into the joint chat, accepting her coffee. Yay coffee. There's a reason why Red Robin was her favorite brother.

    It wasn't the coffee, but the coffee doesn't hurt.

    And she narrows her eyes behind her domino, looking over to Tim as she hears the sudden panic and run, and the bands lighting up.
    <<Bands are lighting up like a Christmas Tree. Os, what do your Osprey Eyes See?>>

    And she reaches for her grapple, setting her coffee to the side.

    "... do the standard belts come with coffee warmers? I feel like they should."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Aw nuts," Batgirl mutters as the gunmen arrive and head inside. She bangs her head once or twice against the Gabel's sign that she's resting on and then grabs the camera, pocketing it in a pouch of her utility belt. And then rolling off the sign into space.

She only falls about twenty feet down the sign before grabbing hold of the E. Batgirl goes to an exhaust vent there and pulls out a little electric screwdriver that makes quick work of the bolts holding the cover on. She removes it and then slides inside.

<< Heading inside. Will start on the top floor and take out them out quietly. Well as quietly as possible. >>

The biggest crime? She didn't get to her coffee!

Audra Meridian has posed:
To be fair when stores have special event sales like this they often offer items or deals that are only available in person. Or that would be the response to Austin if she was there to give it to him.

It was much the reason Audra was here, after all, as a sibling favor.

Which means she's there in the middle of the crowds when things start to go pear shaped. She caught a glimps of one of the men spreading out, but assumed it was some poor worker duped into dressing up in holiday themed attire as part of the sale. Until the one in the turkey getup starts making demands. And crowds panic... which isn't far off from what they were already doing, but now it's in fear instead of greed and desperation.

On the other hand, the panic and chaos makes it easier for her to push her way through the sea of people. One hand in the pocket of her jacket...

And comes out wearing a more compact version of her superhero gauntlets. After the last few times she's started working on making her Windrose hardware more portable. She wedges her way through people panicing to move towards one of the pilgrim gunmen. "Excuse me sir" she says, trying to sound like the assumption he is a costumed worker, and putting her gloved hand on his shoulder like trying to get his attention.

Which at contact releases a potent electrical discharge. That unless he's got some manner of insulation even the tactical gear won't entirely protect him from.

Tim Drake has posed:
    The mention of a late delivery has Red Robin clucking his tongue. Stephanie is saved from any further unhelpful advice as Tim is now distracted by perusing the department store's internal network until he finds the right file, and then he's busy scrolling through spreadsheets. "<<Nothing on the schedule,>>" he reports, only moments before reports about masked criminals with guns begin to filter in through the Bat-computer's automated system. He sighs and downs the rest of his coffee in one big gulp, an action which would surely give anyone else heart palpitations in short order, and then he nods at Balm.

    Hand on his grapple gun, Red Robin takes to the air, cape fanning out around him in the way it always does for the Bats: as a dark, dramatic shape framed against the perpetual overcast of the Gotham sky.

    "<<We have 5 floors to cover. I'll take the one below Batgirl. Osprey, Balm, take your pick.>>" The soft hiss of decompressing air signals the arrestment of his fall as the grapple line catches and then pulls taut, guiding him in a low arc above the street and towards a ventilation opening on the side of the department store. "<<If you identify the ringleader, ping their location. Otherwise clear your floor and then we'll meet up on the one remaining.>>"

    He doesn't give much thought to the incoming reports of a Thanksgiving-obsessed villain at the heart of all this. It's certainly not too cheesy a concept for Gotham, anyway, but Tim is still monitoring the feed from the Bat-computer for any notifications as he makes his way through the vents.

    Like, for example, an unidentified person inside taking the fight to the villains before any of the Bats have even arrived. Though that likely won't trickle through for a few moments at least yet, even with the general public's need to internet-document everything.

Austin Reese has posed:
<"Only saw it for a second, but multiple hostiles, at least a dozen."> Osprey responds over comms, as he hops over the ledge he had been leaning against and drops off the roof, grappling to the roof of the loading dock. He pops open one of the air vents and moves inside, pulling up the building layout on his domino's HUD, "Looks like I'm taking the 3rd floor.">

Inside of the building proper, the goons have managed to seperate as many of the shoppers and workers as they can, and have consolidated them in the main atrium which is (technically) on the second floor, but opens up to all four above it, where Santa's Workshop is set up. The first floor is where the GCPD is doing their best to evacuate people, but there are only about five officers, and the thieves have taken plenty of hostages on the other four floors.

Windrose makes her way to one of the gunmen, who is yelling at a woman pushing a stroller who's trying to escape. He turns his attention to Audra when she puts her hand on his shoulder, but never even gets a word out before the massive voltage shoots through him, knocking him out cold. She'd better get him out of the way so he doesn't get trampled. The woman picks up her baby from the stroller, abandoning the stroller before running up to Audra, "Thank you! Oh god thank you!" She says, before she runs for the exit with her child. Someone else filmed the whole thing, which Red Robin will no doubt pick up on his feed.

Inside the top floor, Batgirl finds there three goons that have taken about two dozen workers and customers hostage. Down below on the 4th floor, the gunmen have found the manager, and are currently making him take them to the safe's location. They know this store makes over half a million dollars in cash alone on a day like today.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <<Second floor, Atrium, Reindeer and Magic Girls.>> Balm states, calling her floor as she launches her grapple and takes off. Lacking a cape, she's less dramatic than Red Robin's entrance to the ventilation shafts, but she creps along the side of the building towards the windows, taking in the scene within as she pops a window open to a ladies' room and slips inside.

    In, tuck, roll, stay down and take stock in what's going on -- and as long as nothing's Doing Business in the room that she needs to be part of, Balm marks this clear and moves to the outside!

Stephanie Brown has posed:
On the fifth floor, the three gunmen are standing guard over their hostages. A woman is whimpering nearby, one of the gunmen leaning down to whisper a threat to her to shut her up. It manages to silence the whimpers, but only at extra tears running down her face as she's even more scared.

From down one of the aisles, a little whirring sound comes like that of an electric motor. A red 1957 Mustang comes driving out of the aisle. But an RV car, about ten inches tall. It pulls forward from the aisle and then stops. It starts to back up again into the aisle.

One of the gunmen gives a smirk and walks over towards it, following into the aisle. The RV car stops a few feet in. The man gives it a nudge with his foot, and then bends down to nudge it with the barrel of his gun.

In the backdrop behind him, both of the other gunmen can be seen, watching. A dark form drops down from above, grabbing the further one back and the pair of them disappear back upwards.

The gunman chuckles and stamps on the car with his foot, crushing it.

Behind him, still unseen, the dark form drops down from above again, grabbing the second gunmen and then disappearing back up into the air.

The man that crushed the RV car turns back around. "Hey, where'd you guys go?"

Audra Meridian has posed:
She really should of put more of her stuff on, but there really wasn't time to fuss over such matters in the moment. Helping people came first. It's okay, she's at least got dark sunglasses on for the moment, being one of those kinds of people, and someone not watching too closely (or inspecting video feeds) probably just assumed she used a taser or such. A nod is given to the woman and child. "You're welcome ma'am, but you should get out of here. No deal is worth this disaster."

She's not a horrible person though, hefting the thug up and dumping him on one of the displays so he doesn't get stomped all over. The pilgrim costume looks the part. "Look, I understand the sentiment, but you blokes are going about it in a very irresponsible manner." Not that he's awake to hear her. Ah well.

Now that she has a moment she quickly swaps the dark glasses for her usual goggles, and goes off looking for more she can do for help.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Rather than popping out of the first interior vent he can find, Red Robin continues to skulk about through the air filtration system until he's reasonably close to where the building's schematics indicate the safe is located. There, he peers down from his hidden vantage point, eyes narrowed. "<<I've got eyes on one of the store managers. Looks like they're trying to use him to get into the safe.>>" Important word there being "try," if he has anything to do with it.

    Though before he does, Tim pauses, and a quick flick of his eyes to the upper right of his HUD makes the video playing there take up a larger portion of his view. "<<Balm, we have an unidentified vigilante on the same floor as you. Sending you their approximate location.>>"

    Shortly, Phoebe's HUD will update with a location ping and a slightly blurry screenshot grab from one of the videos off of Twitter.

    Then, Red Robin makes quick work of the vent cover blocking his entry and carefully pulls it back in through the now-wider opening. Still a tight fit, and he has to fully decompress his lungs to make it through. But let it be said that no Robin (except maybe Jason, nowadays) can be defeated by a vent.

    The clickity-clack of a thousand marbles (who plays with marbles any more, really?) spilling out across the floor pulls away attention from the manager's shaking hands failing to enter the safe's combination correctly. "What the hell is this," one of the masked gunmen says, "Home Alone?" As a group they all lift their weapons, forming a tight ring of offensive intent around the timid manager and the remaining masked figure still working to make him comply.

    Which is precisely when the soft hiss of anesthetic gas begins to emit from a small grenade hidden amidst the marbles scattered around them. They don't have any time to react beyond a couple of frantic cries before a louder pop-hiss joins them as several smoke pellets explode at their feet, filling the air. The ensuing chaos totally obscures another hiss, this one of a grapple line from above.

    What's the appropriate onomatopoeia for Red Robin's fist impacting the nose of the masked gunman in the center of the circle? Crunch, maybe. Up above the frantic manager flails as he dangles from a grapple line, trussed but out of range of the gas as Tim starts to clear out the criminals who had taken him hostage.

Austin Reese has posed:
There are several people hiding in the women's room when Balm comes inside, and they gasp when they see her. No doubt she'll be able to assure them they'll be okay. After all, they're in Gotham and someone with a mask showed up NOT waving a gun. That's usually a good sign. Once out of the room, and the hallway that leads to it, she finds herself on the 2nd floor, the open atrium not far from her position. There are a few goons at the escalators down to the first floor, which are yelling at the cops and preventing any more of the shoppers from escaping that way. Audra can also make out Santa's Workshop from her position after she finishes suiting up, and now that the floor has cleared, she can see it's where the majority of the goons and hostages are being concentrated.

Down at Santa's Workshop, the leader of this whole thing, the guy in the turkey mask, has knocked over Santa's chair and is waving a handgun at the man in the red suit, "Does it make you feel good, to be dressed up as Santa WEEKS before Thanksgiving?!" The guy in the Santa suit appears to just be begging for his life, "I just work here man, it's just a job! I normally work in the stock room!"

Once Batgirl has finished mopping up the last goon, she'd be able to take note of the fire escape near the northwest side of the building. She should be able to get the hostages out that way. Other than the hostages and the one remaining goon, that floor is clear, everyone else having streamed down to the lower floors. Red Robin's floor is clear except for the goons and the manager. The same goons that are soon to be unconscious. The gas immediately makes them drowsy, the manager letting out a cry of surprise as he is hauled off the floor. And the sound you're looking for is perhaps more of a THUNK.

On the 3rd floor, Osprey has emerged from the vent he had been creeping through, coming out onto the floor proper. The food court floor. Lots of people cowering behind counters, and it seems that the few goons on this floor have gathered the hostages in the main food court, with tables spread around. Osprey moves across the ground, keeping low and to the shadows. He makes eye contact with one of the hostages, and holds a finger up over his mouth.

A compact flashbang, about the size of a glowstick, clatters across the linolium and rolls up to one of the guy's feet. He turns to look down at it, "What the hell?" He says out loud, before the grenade goes off, a bright flash and deafening bang going off in his face, causing him to fall backwards as the other goons stumble away from it, allowing Osprey to leapfrog over the table he had been crouched behind and dropkick the goon that had been flashed closest, knocking him backwards over one of the fast food countertops.

Over the GCPD bands, the Bats can hear more and more cops arriving on scene. They've established a perimeter, which means these guys must have some kind of alternate escape plan.

If the Bat and Birds let them get that far.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Ladies and gentlethems. Stay in here and wait for the police to give the all clear, if you would be so kind." Balm gives a smile, and she slips out of the bathroom. She checks for toilet paper on her boot (that'd be horribly embarrassing), and then she moves to the side.

    <<Acknowledged Red Robin. I'll keep an eye out for the new kid. Tagging the Leader. Some sort of... Turkey mask? Threatening Santa. Tagging him. Got goons on the escalator blocking escape.>>

    She breathes out a moment, and she breathes out.

    And then she stretches her fingers. If she had Tim's smarts, she'd hack the control for the escalators to sling them all into the workshop post-haste. Alas. she doesn't have those smarts.

    She does, however, have smoke pellets.

    She brings up her grapple and fires it, zipping up and over the goons at the top.

    Simple procedure, and one of her favorites.

    Smoke pellet. Drop smoke for cover, and then drop a Balm on top to clear the way, her extending staff coming up in order to throat-yoke two goons at once, followed by a double back-of-the-head slam, and then sending down the escalator towards the cops with little polka-dotted gift wrap bows on them.

    "Turkey -- really? Have you considered the tofu option?" she asks.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The one gunman left on the fifth floor, the one who crushed the RV car, looks about for his cohorts. "Goddam it where are you guys!?" he calls. He reaches down and pulls the previously whimpering woman to her feet, putting his gun to her head. "Whoever you are, you do anything and she gets it!"

A voice answers the gunmen, seemingly disembodied as he can't locate it. It's deep and raspy and utterly creepy. "There's nothing that you can do that will stop me."

The gunman starts, turning around, swinging the woman as a human shield as he's trying to look every direction at once. "Damnit who are you!?" he calls out.

The voice answers him again. "I'm the ghost of Christmas Future. A future that you have no real part in when you hurt that woman. You go to jail. The other inmates find out you murdered a woman who works at a diner 12 hours a day. Who had spent all night in line while her sister Delores watched her kids. Just so she could get them the latest Snuffly Wuffly toy for Christmas. At a price she could actually afford."

The voice whispers ominoously, "They tear you. To shreds."

The gunman is freaking out. "What!?" he says, whirling around and pushing the hostage away from him.

Batgirl steps out from an aisle behind him and he whirls just in time to catch her roundhouse under his chin. He goes down and she leans down to bring his wrists behind his back and slap on Batcuffs. She holds a little device up to her mouth, speaking into it and creating the creepy voice. "At least you were familiar with the story." She stows the voice synthesizer back in her utility belt. "Ok everyone, out the fire escape, quick and quiet. Down to the parking lot and across the street to where the police will guide you. Stay quiet, there are other gunmen we're still dealing with."

As the hostages start to file out, the one who had the gun to her head stops at Batgirl. "Thank you so much. But I wasn't here buying anything for my kids." Batgirl opens her mouth to reply, then just shakes her head and gives the woman a gentle push towards the fire escape.

<< Top floor clear. Heading down to the main area unless you need me elsewhere. >>

Audra Meridian has posed:
Well, it's handy that they've grouped themselves together. Less convenient that they've also gathered hostages near them. She can't just barge in, because that would give the thugs a chance to shoot.

While Windrose is pondering how to proceed someone else swoops in, deals with the gunmen on the escalator and moves in on the Workshop... Actually isn't that one of... well, no time to fuss over that.

She doesn't have her flight but she doesn't need it either. Her boots give her enough of a boost to dash into the workshop, just after Balm to capitalize on her entrance and addressing the ringleader. But her attention is on the other goons.

As she lunges into the Workshop area she points both gauntlets ahead of her and unleashes a surge of rushing wind, aimed at pushing the goons away from the people they're holding captive.

"I know the ads said this sale was a steal but they didn't mean it literally!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    For a normal thug, the whap to the face via the weighted tips of a cape might only be mildly disorienting, or just kind of annoying. If you've just got a blast of anesthetic gas, though, it's apparently enough to knock you straight to the floor. Sort of like bullfighting, except if the bull is one of those weeble-wobble toys.

    Except without the part about not falling down. Look, those toys are long before Tim's time, okay?

    An elbow here, a knee to the groin there, a few taps with the taser-end of his staff, and Red Robin finds himself in a circle of dissipating smoke surrounded by a circle of supine thugs. All it takes is a few Bat-cuffs from his belt, and...

    "Huh. Trussed up like turkeys," he says, hands on his hips. "Appropriate!"

    Struggling noises from near the ceiling draws his attention upwards, and with a chagrined smile Red Robin waves at the manager.

    A few moments later he has the man down, on his feet, and ushered towards the fire escape that Tim can already see hostages escaping down from above. "<<Copy, Batgirl. Same for number four. Let's go unmask Mr. Gobbler.>>" He's off towards the nearest escalator, which is now technically just stairs as someone has thought to shut them down on account of the whole emergency thing. From the floor below, he can hear Balm engaging with goons, though he only spares a cursory glance before leaping off in the opposite direction. As he dives over the edge, Red Robin aims himself right into the middle of a clothing rack. Now that's some good urban camoflauge right there!

    "<<Osprey, what's your ETA? We have a GCPD perimeter outside, these guys have nowhere else--.>>" A sharp blast of wind cuts him off, and Red Robin pops out from the rack as several gunmen go tumbling by like... well, like tumbleweeds. He offers a polite wave to Audra, a hopeful assumption that she's on their side here. Then he turns and judo-flips a masked man who was coming up behind him. "<<Ahem. Majority are cornered in the central atrium. Beeg,>>" Which in Tim-speak is the letters B and G together, so he's addressing Steph. "<<Think you can get the drop on... actually I can't think of any pop culturally relevant turkeys. The bad guy in the costume?>>"

Austin Reese has posed:
The goons at the escalators never stand a chance. The smoke goes up rapidly, overwhelming them as the others up at Santa's Workshop turn their attention to the smoke as it pops up. They don't see Balm drop into the smoke and drop both of the goons down the escalator, giftwrapped for the cops. The smoke obscures her, but the turkey masked man, heavyset and wielding a large handgun, holds the weapon to Santa's head, "You capes got here quick. But the big Bat couldn't be bothered to come stop me himself, he sends the kid patrol?"

Behind him, where the hostages are, it seems Balm is holding his attention pretty well, as the ringleader is not aware of her presence until the massive gust of wind from those gauntlets sends goons flying, clearing a path for the hostages to run, which they quickly seize on. This /does/ get his attention, as he turns around towards her, "Who the hell are you?!" He goes to raise his gun towards her, so she'd better think quick before he pulls the trigger!

From her position after she wraps up the last of those goons, Batgirl can see Balm's entrance and the smoke going up on the 2nd floor. She can also see Windrose's entrance, and the scattered goons make for easy to pick off targets, now that they're not all together and are disoriented.

Red Robin's trussed up turkeys are too out cold to give much of a retort to his rather witty one-liner, but he makes his way down to the 2nd floor in time to have to duck goons going flying. He manages to snatch the one coming up from behind with a flip, sending him end over end into a rack of clothes.

Meanwhile on the 3rd, the second gunman gets his weapon kicked out of his hand by Osprey, who then delivers an uppercut to the gut, the cryo knuckles sending a shock of cold through him as he gets knocked backwards. He follows up the uppercut with a leaping superman punch. Maybe not with as much impact as the real one would have, but the goon is knocked on his back and out, quite literally, cold. Osprey spins around to the third guy, hooking and hip-throwing him, before giving him a solid kick to the head. He quickly zipties each of the three guys, and then turns to the hostages, "Get to cover and stay put until the cops show up."

<"Third floor is clear. Heading downstairs. ETA is..Now."> Osprey then moves to the ledge over the atrium area, looking down over the Workshop, spotting all the chaos going on, as he takes a few steps back, gets a running start, and then leaps off the railing, pushing himself off and dropping down from the 3rd floor to the second, slamming into one of the goons that was getting back up to his feet, as the two of them crash through the plywood wall of Santa's Workshop.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "At least the Kids have a seat at the table, you don't even get the invite." Balm counters to the Turkey Man, this Tryptomaniac, and as the new kid winds up the wind, Balm has to trust that the new girl is going to be able to do something about the gun --

    She sweeps in, graps Kris Kringle's look-alike, and as the plywood wall of Santa's workshop comes down she gets him out of the way of danger with a roll backwards through one portal, and out another, one floor up.

    That bat tech is pretty awesome isn't it?

    "Stay here, don't say a word until the Police give the all clear." she whispers to the stockroom Santa, and then hops on the railing and gets her grapple up.

    She's ready to bubble the new girl -- if needed!

Stephanie Brown has posed:
One moment the goons in the central atrium are disoriented and trying to get their bearings, and the next Batgirl is swinging through on a line. Her extended bo staff is in hand and she swings between two of the gunmen, sweeping them off their feet before letting go of the line and rolling to come up on her feet.

She goes on the attack immediately, not giving them time to react. One takes a bo staff to the side of the head, while a batarang goes whirling through the air at another, the blunt edge catching him in the forehead and knocking him out.

The two she knocked off their feet are rising and they rush her, tackling Batgirl together. They all go down in a pile, fists swinging and feet kicking. One man cries out in pain, flopping off the pile while three of his teeth go skittering across the floor. The other finds himself fighting a whirling dervish in eggplant as Batgirl employs some advanced jujitsu to quickly put his arm into a lock and then apply chokehold.

By the time that Buckteeth is getting back to his feet, so is Batgirl. She pulls out a pair of batarangs, throwing them, the line between them making them wrap the man. She walks forward and pushes him to the ground with her foot.

Audra Meridian has posed:
The thing is, even when she's working fast, Windrose isn't doing it without some sort of plan in mind. She anticipated that scattering the goons holding the hostages would get Turkey Man's attention.

Balm using the moment to get Fake Santa out of harm's way is a bonus, it's one less thing to worry about.

Turkey Man raises his gun. The funky mask does mean she can't just blast him in the face to throw him off. So instead she goes for the gun, releasing a jolt of lightning intended to make the weapon extremely hard to hold onto and fire. What between the electrical shock and the metal body rapidly heating up.

"The name's Windrose, and I'm here to make sure you get properly stuffed!" Smart girl, waiting until afterwards to make the expositionary return wisecrack.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Well that's one big nevermind to Batgirl, as Red Robin turns back from what is an expertly executed judo flip, thank you very much, to see Audra aiming a blast of lightning from her gauntlets at Turkey Man. "Nice tech."

    He keeps his distance, but takes up position to protect -- Windrose's, apparently -- flank. At least that what he intends to make it look like, all appearances implying that his focus isn't on the Turkey Man at all but any of his goons (should one or two still be conscious and-or not tied up) try to come at Audra from behind.

    But actually! It's just to get him out into the Gobbler's peripheral vision so that he won't see the bolas come flying from Red Robin's direction, aiming to tangle up his feet and trip him if he attempts to turn tail (heh) and run.

Austin Reese has posed:
Stockroom Santa holds on tight to Balm, almost refusing to let go of his hug after he's through the portal, though eventually she gets through to him, and he nods and scampers off to hide. When Balm reaches the rail, she can look back down at the lightning bolt lancing across the floor from Windrose towards that firearm. Sometimes it's not a great idea to be holding a proverbial lightning rod.

The goons were outmatched from the very beginning as Batgirl went to work, the group of them being unable to react nearly fast enough, multiple batarangs filling the air and hitting their target with the utmost precision.

The other side of Santa's Workshop collapses as Osprey throws the gunman through the wall, turning around to look at the Turkey Man, who's handgun is now focusing several thousand volts through the solid metal frame. Then a bola wire wraps around his ankles, giving the jolt somewhere to focus. Even with the gloves and polymer handle, the gun's heat and the shock makes him yelp out in pain and throw the gun up into the air as he reflexively grabs his right hand with his left, body freezing like that from the taser-like effect in that flash of a moment before the gun sails up.

This leaves him open as Osprey rushes past, smashing that Turkey mask with his right hand, knocking the mask one way, as the now-former turkey goes the other.

It gives the impression that he just decapitated the guy for a moment.

Osprey turns around after the hit, as he gets ready to strike again, looking down at the unmasked villain hitting the floor, every single Bat domino lights up with facial recognition.

<Julian Gregory Day A.K.A. Calendar Man>

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    <<Is this where we break into We Might Be Giants songs?>> comes Balm's question over the subvocal. She grapples herself down to the now destroyed workshop.

    "Kringle is clear. Looks like Calendar Man has A Date with the Gotham City Justice System coming up." she states.

    And then gives a wrinkle.

    "That was bad even for me." she mutters, and then gives a wave to the girl with the tech gauntlets.

    "Sweet effects. Nice to meet you. Balm."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl stows her bo staff, collapsing it back down and replacing it onto the garter utility belt on her leg. "Nice job," she says, giving Windrose a little salute of greeting.

She looks around to make sure everyone else is ok. "Well. Looks like I won't be getting my shopping done early this year either," she says with a sigh. "If no one else needs me, I have a cup of coffee that's getting cold up on the roof," she tells them.

Audra Meridian has posed:
The bolo snags around the turkey's drumsticks, helping complete the circuit. And prompting Windrose to respond to the compliment with her own "Nice throw."

Then to add insult to injury and already being disoriented Osprey flies in and lays the gobbler out flatter than a dinner platter. Knocking his mask off in the process... though the man underneath doesn't mean much to her like it does the clan familiar with the Bat Rouge's Gallery. Balm helpfully drops a name though, and then the whole holiday overstepping its bounds makes sense... well as much sense as any crazy villain scheme makes.

"Wow. That's really stretching it for a theme. He must be in a real holi-daze." Oh well. She smirks a bit at Osprey. "And fancy running into you again. Is this the usual crew you're chasing down nutters with?"

Then glances down at their foe on the floor. "Out colder than thanksgiving leftovers."

Tim Drake has posed:
    As soon as the mask pops off, Red Robin's got a hand in the air, pointing directly towards Calendar Man. "Hey!" he shouts, almost enthusiastic. "It's this guy! Julian, it's been a while, hasn't it? I thought you'd gone COLD TURKEY on crime!"

    The corners of his mouth begin to twitch upwards. "So tell us, what kind of FOWL play did you have planned here?" Is he even concious still? And does Tim care whether or not he is?

    He leans on his staff, scanning the floor for any signs of movement from the masked figures previously knocked down-slash-out. "Guess this turned into a real cluster-PLUCK for you and your buddies, huh?" he adds, as he straightens back up and dips into the now-dwindling stash of Bat-cuffs from his belt so that he can start making the rounds.

    Except, half-bent over, he looks back towards where Calendar Man went down. "Not digging the disguise, though I guess there's no accounting for BASTE--ehh, nah, that one doesn't work." He stands back up and dusts his hands off, then gives a chin-nod in Audra's direction before he continues on tying the bad guys up.

Austin Reese has posed:
"You know, I'm starting to sense a pattern." Osprey says, as he looks over towards Windrose, "Gunfire seems to follow you around like you're magnetic." He holds up three fingers, to remind her how many run-ins they've had so far. He knows she'll get the reference.

He's also thinking Batman will want to open a file, if she's been operating in Gotham consistently.

That's when he realizes she made a pun. He immediately looks at Red Robin but it's too late.

His domino mask's eyes are white, yet somehow you can almost still see them rolling behind the blank LEDs. Probably the facial movement behind the mask.

"Yep. I'm sure there'll be time for proper introductions after we get out of the GCPD's way so they can get these folks out of here." He puts the still out cold Calendar Man in a pair of zip ties, and assists Red Robin with the last mop up of the downed gunmen, before motioning so everyone can get out of there. He'll give Windrose a lift since she doesn't have her flight setup.