13257/Defend the Clocktower

Defend the Clocktower
Date of Scene:	06 November 2022
Location:	Historic Clocktower - Lobby
Synopsis:	The Hand's war against the Defenders is just getting started, but the first assault is finally over with the capture of Nobu and the defeat of a small army of ninjas in Gotham City.
Cast of Characters:	Colleen Wing, Barbara Gordon, Elektra Natchios, Robbie Reyes, Phoebe Beacon, Stephanie Brown, Austin Reese, Mika Yang, Bruce Wayne

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Colleen Wing has posed:
Colleen has hit a second adrenaline rush. After all, having someone fire a rocket launcher at you will do that kind of thing. Out from the Batmobile, she has one hand holding her sword scabbard, the second holding her sword. Her posture is a little contorted. Anyone who has been through enough battles knows what broken ribs look like - yet she's not going to stop until this is done.

She gives a not to Elektra and Batgirl, "They're not going to stop... do you have automated defences or something?" She rather hopes. Even so, this position is far more defensible than the Hyperloop, or the car, or even the Batmobile.

With a flourish, her battle commander nature is showing as she paces back and forth. Despite the pain, she is doing something the Hand often do - she is psyching herself up for this final push, this final battle. Either they win here or it's over.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara's well armored, smaller than Batman's, Batmobile had torn its way up the cement staircases outside of the Tower to come to a park in front of the main doorways. It parked there purposefully, with its rear-mounted cannon up and cycling through AI-controlled settings.

The canopy had slid open, and the three women that had been racing through the streets had disembarked the cockpit-style interior of the vehicle. Babs stands atop it, with one foot up on the edge, the other still on her seat within. She looks out at the city, and then over at Colleen.

Her left wrist comes up, she'd sent out the call for other Birds, and Bats to arrive, but she had more tricks up her sleeve than just that.

A buzzing sound from above starts to grow louder, as the night sky is filled with growing movement. From above, a whole cloud of buzzing Bat-drones start to pour down out of the building and flow out across the edges of the tower's property, out toward the streets that encircle it. The Bat-drones start moving in pre-designated packs that have them flowing in circles around the air above the plaza park of the Clocktower.

"We have some toys." Babs says down to Colleen then before she drops down from the edge of the Batmobile with her cape flaring out behind her in the cool night breeze.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
With them coming to hole up at the tower Elektra drags herself from the batmobile. Unlike the others that seem to have gotten that adrenaline boost Elektra is the opposite, starting to feel the weight of those wounds on her. She sits on the edge of the batmobile and rolls her neck, reaching up to her shoulder to feel at the wound there. She frowns and finally slides back down to the ground.

"Seems I will be owing you again.." this to Batgirl. She checks on her weapons. A few shuriken left. A couple of knives.. Not much. But it will have to do. But worst of all her sais are gone.

"You have a armory or three around, don't you?" This she asks of Batgirl, a faint, amused smirk coming to her lips when Batgirl speaks of having some toys, "Might need a few. And I promise I will keep the killing to a minimum." hey, it's something at least since it's coming from an assassin like Elektra.

Still, she seems the worst for wear of the group, some of her armor and suit already ripped in parts.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Barbara's isn't the only vehicle to make ingress into the Tower's front door. Shortly following this, what appears to be a '69 Charger makes its own destructive entrance, skidding to a stop some twenty feet away and pointed in the opposite direction. The whine of its supercharger fades as its engine throttles down, and once the ignition's cut, a tall, leanly built young man in a leather jacket climbs out.

Expression grave, he briefly surveys the scene before looking to Colleen with a little upnod. "You okay? Came as soon as I heard." He, of course, doesn't have any weapons on him. Mostly because his body generally weapon enough.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Colleen, Elektra and Batgirl have something here in Gotham that the Hand don't: Allies. Balm had gotten a notification that there were allies coming in hot, and had broke off from her normal patrol route to respond to the call for backup. Out of the alleyway rips one of the batcycles used by the Bats, and astride one of the powerful bikes was the 'baby bat' Balm. Her domino eyes glow blue, the capeless figure pulling up with a slight side next to the Charger, and she pulls her hood a littlebit forward, voice modulated.

    "Heard the distress call. Looks like it's already a party."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Blue eyes peer out from beneath Stephanie Brown's Batgirl cowl. Studying those who stand arrayed before her in a line as for battle. Watching the nuances of their posture. The twitch of a hand here. The determination in an expression there. Taking their measure. And seeing that they look as committed as she, Batgirl's hand tightens in the leather of her glove before she breaks the silence with a sudden proclamation.

"Oppa Gangnam Style!"

"Gangnam Style!"

Batgirl breaks into the familiar dance, as do the line of girls before her, ranging from 8 to 12 years old. Across the little cul-de-sac street their voices can all be heard together, "Oppa Gangnam Style!" they yell as they dance with the blond haired heroine.

An alert flashes in the corner of Stephanie's vision and she quickly lowers the volume of the music that is coming out of her electric Batcycle where it's parked nearby. "Sorry girls, I have to run!" she apologizes as she turns and rushes to the motorcycle, cape flaring behind her. "Remember, just two pieces of Halloween candy a day!" she calls as she guns the electric engine, the Batcycle making a rapid 180 degree rotation then accelerating away at high speed.

Colleen Wing has posed:
The drones begin their swarm which forces the captured police helicopter to rise up out of the way. It was descending for a better angle of attack. More cars turn up and people clad in black ninja garb pour out. The clocktower is under-siege.

The ninja begin to pour in toward the defenders, the birds, and the bats. At the far end of this army of ninjas stands one apart from the rest. He wears not the traditional black but instead red. He stands out. He is Nobu Yoshioka, one of the trusted lieutenants of the Hand. This is not the first time he's been seen in Gotham. It suggests this is where he's currently stationed.

"Impressive timing Ro.. Rider," Colleen says not quite sure what name she should be using for the young man whose head turns to flames. "Game on though," she states and not one to back down from a fight, moves to intercept the first of the Hand who have made it to the building.

The ninja reveals a sword in a fast drawing motion and Colleen sweeps her sword up in a blocking parry. He counters with a thrust that skims just past Colleen's back, slicing in to her clothes. She spins and sweeps her sword around at his ankles which he hops over.

Her scabbard is used to swipe at his head and he wraps his arm about it, locking the two in mortal combat as the blades match at each other in wild thrusts and counter thrusts. Colleen half turns and drops, throwing him. He rolls back up and draws a second sword. Colleen twists her head and grimaces, "Really now... if you can't do it with one, two is more than you can handle."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
With Elektra showing her injuries becoming an issue, Barbara pulls her green eyes off of the arriving Robbie Reyes. She'd seen him in his 'other form' on that yacht, but with him interacting with Colleen, she makes sure the AI doesn't target him by issuing a command in to her left wrist com.

"Come on." Babs says to Elektra. "If you're out of the fight, we need to get you inside, and out of the way of harm." She states, moving to take Elektra's left arm in her gloved hand... though Elektra can certainly protest if she so desires!

A look is sent over her shoulder at who else is arriving on their side, and it does fill Babs up with some relief to behold. She nods her head once softly, and glances to the ninjas as they too begin to pour out of the shadows.

Instantly upon stepping on to the Clocktower property, however, the drones in the sky begin to target some of the Hand's people, and they start screaming down from above, actually unleashing bat-like screaches as they bomb-dive the Ninjas, trying to attach to them to explode with electrical stunning energy blasts!

Meanwhile, the Batmobile starts firing off smoke rockets to the edge of the property to blind the ninjas from seeing easily up to the tower and those defending it!

Elektra Natchios has posed:
As allies begin to gather Elektra casts a look around them. Dark gaze stops for a longer moment on Robbie. Yes, she remembered the flaming skull that had began advancing to her not that long ago and she narrows her eyes. But the moment is gone when there's a Batgirl walking her way. And telling her to ..., retreat?

"I can still fight." retreat doesn't seem to be in her vocabulary. But she also knows she might not be the best of helps here right now. "... but, staying out here may not be the best for me right now." she still needs weapons so ... "Just one sec."

She spots that first ninja that came to assail Colleen and like the nice ninja that she is Elektra strikes from behind, throwing a small blade that sinks into the man's shoulder from behind. Its enough to make him lose balance and she finishes it with a kick on the head. She reaches to take the two swords that were dropped. "Just in case..." she's breathing hard after all that commotion though and turns back to join Batgirl, letting her arm be taken.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
A wink from Robbie signifies his acknowledgement of Colleen's greeting. He seems on the verge of a smile, but the Hand is converging on them like an army of black ants. And this might not be the time for pleasantries. Or commenting on Barbara's sweet ride, for that matter.

"Behind you," he barks instead to Phoebe as her bike skids to a stop. And he's already on the move; twisting out of the way of an imminent clash between one of the swooping drones and a ninja booking it up the stairs, climbing atop the hood of his car and pushing off hard enough to launch him at the trio of Hand about to swarm Phoebe. The one intent on running a sword through her finds Reyes instead; the blade slices between his ribs, comes out wet with blood.

And then the guy gets a fist to the face for his efforts. And another, and another; kid hits like a Mack truck even when *not* possessed by the demon. One of the other ninjas swings at him with a pair of tonfa, which he barely manages to dodge. His own attempt to break their knee is met with yet another ninja driving his sword into his chest.

What does he do? Grab the blade of the sword in both hands, and FWOOOMP, up it goes in flames.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm looks to the assembled grouping, and she especially gives what might be a sympathetic look to Elektra, she initially ducks a little at the sound of the electrical energy blasts coming from Bab's drones as she gives a little bit of a gasp.

    And then she grasps her hand to her extending staff at her side, and she turns to set her gaze on the ninjas in question as they begin to set upon the tower. She ducks as Robbie decides to start in on the ninjas that were about to take her out as she ducked, her fingers gripping into loose fists as Robbie takes blades. Damage. Stuff that would kill a normal person and she visibly winces before she adds to her own -- a skillful rise of her hand and a throwing dagger impales itself into a ninja to his side, followed by an armored elbow.

    "Bad ninja, no cookie!"

    "... oh. Yeah, that's a party." she briefly mumbles to herself, and the young woman gives a spin of her staff as more and more of The Hand start coming out of the woodwork and the shadows.

    <... how wounded is she?> she asks into her comms, before she spins her staff and delivers a gut-crushingly strong blow to another person, hearing the CRACK of armor beneath, switching her domino to medical mode.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Across the street and another building down the block from the Clocktower, a group of five ninjas step out onto the rooftop of a building whose height tops that of the Clocktower. They move to the edge of the building nearest the famed Gotham landmark, two attaching lines to solid parts of the building, and two others drawing bows and fit arrows with the thin, high-strength lines trailing from them.

The two archers take measure of the wind and then take aim. Arrows leap across the distance, strengthened arrowheads punching into the mortar and securing themselves. They tighten the lines and test their weight on them there above the building, before giving a silent nod.

The one who seems in charge holds up a hand, his head tilting as he listens. Finally he shakes his head, murmuring in Japanese, "Just the wind." Each member of the Hand pulls out a handle and affixes it to the line. They begin ziplining across to the Clocktower, a pair going at a time one on each line. The first four reach the building, already climbing across the tower towards access points to begin infiltration from above to try to take their quarry from behind.

The fifth ninja affixes his handle and slides down the line. Suddenly something swoops out of the sky. Batgirl diving down from where she'd circled above at the height her bike's ejector seat had managed to launch her to from the top of a multi-level parking garage.

She kicks the ninja, knocking him off the line and causing him to plummet from a hundred feet up. Batgirl grabs the handle herself and then shoots her grapple, wrapping it around the falling ninja's leg and secures the grapple line to the one she's dangling from.

The falling ninja swings like a wrecking ball, smashing into the side of the Clocktower and knocking him unconscious, leaving him dangling there.

Batgirl reaches the tower, clinging to a handhold as the clamboring ninjas turn in surprise and draw weapons. "Hey boys, did someone order a pizza?" she asks.

A symbol comes across the Birds visual comms. BGJr. The blond Batgirl is on the site.

Colleen Wing has posed:
A small army of ninjas becomes engaged in combat with an a small army of AI controlled drones. Dive rolling, dodging, some getting zapped and taken down. Others are getting cut in two by blades of all sizes. Some get speared with sharp things on chains and whipped about in to other drones. The Hand are not intimidated - but they are certainly being kept busy.

Several ninjas have shot grappling hooks up to the building to get on the higher floors - but the flash bangs keep them grounded for now. The more skilled ninjas are breaking past the taser cannons of the Batmobile and moving in to fight those defending the tower. So far, Nobu is merely watching as a few more cars come to skidded halts near the tower and more ninjas exit the vehicles.

Colleen smirks as the ninja she's fighting is sucker-stabbed from behind. As Elektra kicks him in the head, dropping him, Colleen quips "I told you you can't handle two..." Two Defenders that is.

Colleen catches sight of the fancy red pajamas and warns to Elektra, "Yoshioka-san is here." She was expecting some kind of lieutenant to be in charge of hunting them down but she didn't expect him again, not so soon. Retreat really isn't an option with that guy around.

No rest for the wicked, even as Colleen rasps for air in her beleaguered lungs. Two more ninjas enter her fray. One has a long coil of rope with a dagger on the end and the other has wicked spiked knuckle busters. It's the second who charges in at Colleen and starts throwing daggered fists while the second begins to spin up his bladed lasso.

Colleen cracks her neck and straightens her posture. It's getting harder. "Well," she pants, "At least we don't have a black sky to worry about this time." Because somehow the black sky sent their fire demon flying.

Colleen engages. Her sword clashes with the bladed knuckles, sparks flying. The rope is thrown out and wraps about her leg. With a yank she is pulled to the ground. A bladed fist comes crashing down toward her and she rolls out of the way. Her leg tucks up the rope and she pushes on it with her other foot, yanking the second ninja closer to her.

A ninja with a bow, the steel tip laced in poison knocks and draws. He looses the arrow toward Colleen on the ground but a drone powered by Oracle's AI intercepts it an explosion of sparks and light. Colleen rolls again as another fist comes down and hits the pavement where she was. She pushes herself back up and re-stomps the rope yanking the second ninja closer again.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Barbara relents and allows Elektra to go do what Elektras do. She turns her gaze up to the tower, looking up to see the wires, and Stephanie up there dealing with the enemies taking the high road.

Babs lifts her com up and speaks in to it, causing the tower to enter in to a new mode. From the top to the bottom, all the interior lights behind the many floors of windows all begin to dim and darken until they are as black as night. The building goes in to blackout mode, before at various points across it a strange noise can be heard, or not heard, depending on one's hearing. It's a pulsing, low thrumming, squeal? It emits from the building on all sides, spreading out to all of Gotham City, and perhaps beyond.

It only takes a minute for the reaction to come toom, in the form of fluttering wings, shadows inside the shadows. Actual, living, bats begin to flood out of the dark spaces of Gotham City, coming from their hiding places, to converge on the tower from all directions. They start to swarm around it, start to crawl across it, as they seem to be attracted to the noise that is flowing out from the Gotham City landmark.

Babs drops her hand in to her Batmobile, and draws something out. A large hand-cannon. She stalks away from her armored car, and two Ninjas rush at her. She ducks under the sword swipe from the first, then puts the hand-cannon up against his back and pullsthe trigger. It blasts something right in to the Ninjas back, before it causes the man to scream as something wraps around his midsection, then another explosion slams a cord down in to the ground that reels the man down against the pavement, locking him in place on the concrete floor.

Babs raises the gun up and fires it right in to the chest of the second, causing the same thing to happen. A device goes in to his skin, and a powerful anchor yanks the man down to the ground to join his brother.

With that hand cannon at her side now, Babs starts walking through the smoky night toward that 'Lieutenant' dressed in red.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
And what do Elektras do? Kick ass, that is. And by kicking ass we really mean slicing and dicing with her newfound swords. Because she is no one-trick-pony that only uses Sais, nope.

So when that first ninja comes for her? It gets cut across the chest that sends it to the ground in agony. See? Non-lethal. The second one gets a cut through the side that she makes sure to not cut through a vital artery. It's close, and the man will lose a lot of blood. But hey, he might live...

With medical attention. Not medical attention delivered by Elektra of course because she's there to ki-- errr, incapacitate these Hand ninjas. With many being former colleagues of hers too. It's no wonder that so many flock her way but she's dispatching them fairly well so far even if she's retreating back, getting slower with each passing second, blood dripping from her wounds.

"Yoshioda?" She looks towards him but can't really do anything. Though she does see Batgirl making her way over with that kind of look that's telling. That one won't be getting out of here without learning that attacking the clockwork tower was a BIG mistake.

Even if she is using cheater weapons like hand-cannons.

She retreats back to a wall, nowhere to go. And just in a place for one of those ninjas that were prowling down the building to get ready to kill her from above and ...! A chunk of concrete flies off the wall and falls on it's head. Elektra looks up sharply a moment when the ninja just falls on the ground next to her with a *thud*

Where did -that- come from?

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The walls of the Clocktower are ornate enough to provide plenty of convenient handholds for climbers as skilled as the Hand or those in Batman's entourage. Though doing such climbing while in combat is a whole other story.

A sword clangs against the wall as Batgirl swings from facing the wall, to facing away as she puts distance between herself and the attacker to dodge the slash. The ninja are working together, scrambling to try to get on both sides of her both above and below.

More sword swings are taken on Batgirl's bracers, the weapons pulled back before she can twist and catch the blade in the armored fins that are part of the gauntlets. One of the ninjas twirls a chain with a blade on it, slamming it against the wall as Batgirl jumps away from the wall, landing on a horizontal flag pole. It bends under her weight and she uses the rebound to spring away back to the wall on another spot a split second before a blade slices through the pole and drops it to the ground below.

"No? Extra pepperoni and banana? I mean you guys look like you'd order banana on a pizza," she says as she suddenly drops down ten feet to avoid that damn chained blade as it smashes into the wall, knocking a chunk of the concrete free. It falls below, landing on the head of someone fighting Elektra.

"That one counts on my tally!" she shouts below.

Batgirl grabs her collapsed bo staff from her belt and it extends it, the telescoping end slamming into a ninja's foot and breaking it, leaving him clinging to the wall with both hands as his other foot scrambles for a foothold.

Another ninja drops down, aiming to stab into Batgirl's shoulder as he falls past, only to suddenly be hit by a swarm of bats coming in to land on the tower. It throws his aim off, the blade scoring Batgirl's arm but failing to penetrate her as intended. He ends up grabbing hold of the building again two stories down and quickly starts climbing back up towards her.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm had turned her head to get a medical reading on the wounded Elektra, and her lips press thinly together as she braces herself, turning to Robbie and his attackers before she gives small smile, and taking a running step, she goes to give Robbie and his on-board fire producer plenty of room to Take Out the Trash, as it were. She vaults up and over a mailbox, sailing into the air and then using the leads and shoulders of the Hand to spot-check for bad guys, and she comes down, skidding near to where Elektra has taken cover -- and looks at the chunk of wall that's come down.

    "Terrific timing." she states, and gives a small wave.

    "I'm Balm. Please hold for a moment." she greets the Defender, and then she concentrates with a theatrical BOOM of the end of her normally very normal extending staff against the ground, where there's an immediate glow.

    Two circles form, creating a pinkish-gold glow around the two, keeping the healing power all insular.

    And then the magic takes hold. There may in fact be sparkles, like a good bottle of rose as Phoeb focuses her healing energies into Elektra; a sheild forming around them to briefly defend them against drop-ninjas and chunks of the Gotham archetecture alike!

Robbie Reyes has posed:
The number of times Robbie's been stabbed, he'd be dead several times over, were he 'just' human. Which he most assuredly isn't, any longer. The damage to his body is beginning to heal, even as he takes more; even as he beheads the ninja who ran him through with his katana. The sword, still on fire, is wielded without any real skill-- but plenty of raw power.

The lean, dark-haired figure moves like a dervish; he favours a fluidity and brutality that somehow aren't at odds with one another. Whatever he doesn't manage to block, parry or dodge, he takes full force, and gives as good as he gets, leaving a path of carnage in his wake.

A dagger whipped at him from the shadows is caught blade-first out of the air, lit on fire, and driven into the heart of another Hand who's been harrying him with his sai. And then *something* wrenches his attention away from the fight. Something like a bad smell, or a change in the air pressure.

He pauses, pivoting, nostrils flared like a scenthound on the trail of a warm body, squinting through the cloud of converging bats.

*There*.

As Barbara goes on the hunt, so does he. A flick of his gloved fingers summons a flaming, kama-tipped chain, and he uses his free hand to wind the end of it slowly around and around his forearm as he moves. Elektra, this time, is not the target of his unnatural hunger. He does not even notice Phoebe lighting up with Holy magic in his wake.

Austin Reese has posed:
Do you know how long it takes to get from North Gotham to the Clocktower? A while, especially when you're left weaving in and out of traffic on a Batcycle. Austin has pulled up security cameras from the Clocktower on his HUD as he drove. It looked like they were holding out fine, at the moment, but there were a LOT of hostiles out there.

It took way longer than he would like, but eventually Osprey could see the clocktower in the distance, and he gunned the engine, splitting traffic and flying as fast as he could towards the scene without ACTUALLY flying. Batman doesn't trust him with the Batwing. Yet. Someday.

Anyone who knows the sound of a Batcycle would be able to hear it approaching, but the sight would be something else, as the cycle suddenly comes flying off of a highway overpass near the clocktower, sailing through the air as Osprey looks for a target.

Spotting a group of those ninjas, as soon as the bike lands he lays it down, sending it sliding across the ground and into the group. Three of them flip over the bike, one of them hesitates a little too long and gets taken out at the knees literally, leaving Osprey standing in front of the trio of ninjas, "You guys got your ninja permits? New law in Gotham, you need a permit to ninja. I'm gonna need to see some ID."

Mika Yang has posed:
    Mika got the alert during her shift in Gotham. She blinks, and takes a moment to call dispatch. Its been a slow night overall, so they let her go. The woman heads over to a small cache site she set up away from the Clocktower. One of the first things she learned was never have all your stuff in one place. The woman stretches out, and changes into her SANDA outfit. A traditional Kung-fu uniform, save hers is white with a pheonix flame design set into it. The woman slips on a fighters robe as well before putting on her MMA gloves. Her fighter's robe is the same, white but the sleeves have wings on them, and the hood comes up over her head, with the head of the pheonix on it. THe woman pulls out two tonfas, her butterfly daggers, and gently touches that chain thats wrapped around her bicep. Playtime.

    Mika rides in on a ducati motorcycle, turning the bike sideways as it enters the lobby. The woman gives a small glare as she steps off the bike. The woman draws her two tonfas out. The first ninja comes running at her with the katana, slashing at her. Mika blocks the slash with her first tonfa, and tries to strike with her other. The ninja spins away from the strike, forcing Mika to counter spin back to a neutral position. She throws a few quick strikes at the ninja, who keeps just out of range. Its then that Mika gets whacked in the back of her knee with a staff, and the katana comes down towards her head from the opposite side.

    The woman ducks down, narrowly dodging the strike. She brings the tonfa up in an uppercut in an area that Ninjas and everyone else in the world doesn't like to get striked in, the groin. THe woman knee spins to block the follow up strike from the staff Ninja that sends her on her back. She kips up into a Tonfa Superman punch to the staff Ninja's face as he tries to reset himself from the strong strike. Mika rubs her knee a little bit, only to stare as several more ninjas come running towards her.

    "...This is gonna suck so much...", Mika mutters as she prepares. "Can I at least get a stunt double, even if I am the stunt double? Wait, can a stunt double have a stunt double?"

Colleen Wing has posed:
Nobu would be disappointed if someone didn't try coming at him. He was considering entering the fray himself anyway. But Batgirl? this was an inevitable confrontation given his recent activities in the city. A small smirk is hidden by the red mask over his mouth. The tight crinkle of his eyes suggests his amusement.

From a hidden sleeve lowers a wicked double edged blade with a curved sharp hook attached to it. Chain lowers down and he begins to spin it, gaining speed as he starts to walk through the mess of drones and darkness toward the defender of Gotham. This is his Kyoketsu-Shoge, a formidable weapon in the hands of an expert.

"You are a worthy opponent Batgirl. It will be an honor to claim your life," he says over the din of battle - somehow his voice carrying for all to hear, "However, Elektra Natchios, surrender and this conflict will cease. You may keep Colleen Wing, she is already dead to us."


Colleen is slowing down too. The Defenders have been at this all night already, even the Ghost Rider took an unexpected walloping from the Black Sky. More Bats and Birds are turning up though even as this fight is heating up to a boil.

She dodges past another blow from those bladed knuckle busters and launches at the guy with the rope. He pulls it back quickly and spins it up again. With a throw it wraps about Colleen's neck and she gags for breath for a moment even as her sword cuts the rope free. The spike on the end of that rope is in her shoulder and the rope is still tight about her. She turns with a wild slash and catches the ninja off guard, his punch meeting the sword as the punch with blades lands in to her side. His arm is severed from his body and he stumbles back trying to stem the bleeding.

Colleen rips the rope from her neck as the second ninja kicks up in the side and she stumbles back and falls to the ground. A small packet of smoke and flash is deployed by Colleen. A literal ninja smoke bomb. Just enough of a distraction to give her a chance to pull the hook from her shoulder. The wounds are adding up now. As the smoke clears, Colleen sees two more have joined the ninja who lost his rope weapon. He's drawing out a machete like weapon. The other two - one has a staff and the other a flail.

"So... this is how it ends. Wave after wave of Hand. I guess I always knew it would be like this...," she says to herself quietly. The swarm of bats blackening the sky, blocking out all moonlight and much street light seems fitting. Her eyes shut as she lets her senses absorb more than just the thudding beat of her blood pumping hard. If she's going to die here she should at least do it with all the purpose her grandfather taught her, that Daredevil taught her, that Elektra taught her, that Danny taught her. Colleen focuses her ki and lifts up her sword. "Come at me bros."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
That huge cannon in Barbara's right gloved hand is extended out to her right side, where she discharges it right in to the chest of another Ninja rushing her with his blade up. His skills in bladed combat don't even get a chance to 'play' with Barbara tonight, as that disc from the gun Babs fires at him, just imbeds itself in his chest, then explodes the cable grapple line down in to the ground, pulling him face first in to the concrete with a scream following! The ninjas that are anchored to the ground like this will quickly learn that the less they move, the less searing hot pain they'll feel... though how willing are they to learn?

With the red adorned Lieutenant accepting her approaching challenge, Babs raises her gun up again to aim it at him, only to have a shuriken sweep in from off to the side, striking her wrist and causing the large hand-cannon to get knocked out of her grip and sent skidding toward where the Ghost Rider is wrapping that chain around his forearm.

Babs hears the Lieutenant's words, but she doesn't respond to them. She just keeps walking toward him, until they're close enough that their strikes are both within range. His blade is blocked by her armored forearm, and she sweeps under his sword arm to use her strength enhanced suit to send an elbow back at his chest!

Meanwhile the Clocktower has fallen completely dark, with actual living bats crawling all over it now, with more coming in from all directions. They're creating a crawling cacoon over the tower's surface, while the Bat-drones continue to sworm in the hazey smoke around the base of the tower, finding more Ninja targets to dive down at, collide with, and neutralize with stunning electrical blasts.

Where are the GCPD? Well... for many blocks spanning out from the tower, street blocking concrete columns have risen up to block the streets off, another key element of a Clocktower lockdown... don't let the police come here, don't let the Police get hurt in situations like this that are far above their training levels.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
Another Batgirl? And this one just as sassy as Babs. There's a brief lift of a brow up at the shouting Steph and she snorts but there's at least a thankful nod given her way.

Yet what *really* catches her attention is what comes next with Balm getting close to her and ..., she's glowing? She feels those energies running through her, energizing her, some of her wounds starting to close. She takes in a breath all of a sudden, eyes widening, surprised. And really, of all the things Elektra isn't the type to get surprised easily. "Impressive.." she says, rolling her shoulder and then bringing her blade up to parry an oncoming overhead blow from a ninja. She kicks him away. No rest for the wicked apparently, it's time to return to the fray.

She hears Nobu asking for surrender. Should she? It would stop the attack but then again this is the Bat's turf. And if anything she has trust enough on them. So instead of surrendering she runs, somersaulting over a few of the ninjas to join Colleen, back to back.

"Really? Come at me bros is the best you can do?"

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Not just Batgirl; the Ghost Rider's also on the hunt. Robbie's held out as long as he could, but the demon wants what he wants-- and right now, Nobu's as good as it gets. The transformation is never pleasant; his eyes light up and then explode in demonfire. Then the left side of his face ignites, flesh peeling away, becoming a smoking ruin beneath which smooth, untarnished silver is revealed. Then the hellfire overtakes the rest of him, consuming the young man in a sudden roar of flames.

The Rider takes one look at Nobu's weapon, and actually *laughs*. The sound is like bending, twisting, tearing metal.

Barbara's lost cannon is not given the respect it surely deserves; not with Eli in charge. He kicks it aside as he stalks in to join the attack on the Lieutenant. While Batgirl occupies him from the front, he's attempting to literally stab him in the back with one of his hellfire-soaked kama.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl and the remaining four ninjas on the side of the building are having more difficulty now as a hand placed without care is as likely to come down on a bat as on something that can be gripped. And when swords and a bo staff are swinging back and forth, who has time for care?

More blows are exchanged, some striking home, others blocked aside by sword or bo staff. Batgirl leaps away from the tower, throwing a batarang which strikes one of the ninjas and sends an electric charge detonating on impact. He falls away, Batgirl throwing another batarang to loop about a protruding vent and pull her back to the wall, catching the tasered ninja on the way. She leaves him hanging there as his three allies close back in.

The weighted end of the chain swings by and smashes into her thigh, resulting in a cry of pain as the body armor only does so much to block the bludgeoning strike.

Foregoing her bo staff, Batgirl suddenly closes on a ninja unexpectedly, bouncing his face off the bulletproof window once, twice. She grabs him and throws him off the building then, the back of his clothing caught on the stub of that horizontal flagpole that was previously cut in two.

Two ninjas left on the building side.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Balm had healed up Elektra, and giving a nod as the woman states she's impressed -- not often she takes someone unawares in Gotham City -- Balm turns and drops the shields, letting Elektra rejoin the fight as she herself turns to smash another Ninja in its ninjamasked face, and then sweep, pin, and deliver a kick to his solar plexus in order to keep the ninja down.

    One ninja was on its way down towards her as she looks up to Batgirl's cry of pain, and she raises her hands up, watching as the ninja catches on the pole above.

    More ninjas on the side of the building are worrisome, though, and she fires her own grapple in order to lift herself out of reach of some ninjas below!

    "Better luck next time, guys!"

Mika Yang has posed:
    As the ninjas approach, Mika takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. She lowers her head a little, and looks up at the rush. She lets her arms down, and rolls her shoulders so that the robe falls off. Mika rushes in, letting loose a barrage of tonfa induced violence on the Ninjas that are attacking her. For the moment, it seems like she's got the upperhand on her end of the battle until a female ninja appears, and lets out a yell as she stomps her foot down. Incense flows down her arms and around the fallen ninjas. They hop back up, looking more then a little annoyed at Mika. The female ninja smirks a little bit at the Kung Fu Girl.

    "Seriously?!", Mika says, groaning. Mika rushes through the ninjas at the Female Ninja who wide eyes for a second, and then backs away! Mika is not letting a healer run around bringing KO'd people back into the fight! Thats just not sporting! Its then that Mika finds herself stuck just trying to keep herself from getting stabbed, slashed, and bludgeoned to death. She backs away a bit, focusing on defense at the moment.

Austin Reese has posed:
The trio of ninjas armed with a variety of weapons don't seem to want to show any ID to Osprey, as they all quickly rush at him. Nobody's waiting for their turn with this group of well trained assassins. The first ninja armed with a naginata rushes at him. He always hates fighting against weapons with extra reach like that. Osprey ducks the first few strikes that come his way, slipping backwards as he tries to keep an eye on the other two ninja as well.

He leaps backwards, throwing a batarang at one of the ninjas, the one armed with a ninjato, who swats it out of the air. These guys aren't making it easy. Osprey blocks a strike from the naginata and then turns and closes the distance between himself and the one he'd thrown his weapon at, throwing a haymaker right that the ninja easily evades, only to find himself catching a knee to the gut immediately afterwards.

The third ninja was much larger than his two partners, and seemed to be taking his time, waiting for Osprey to open himself up before the big dude rushes in with his kanabo, swinging the massive club and catching Osprey in the side, knocking the Gotham local through the air, where he lands and rolls a few times, laying on his back for a moment to catch his breath. "Ow. Hell. Okay big guy's going down first." If it weren't for the armor, he'd probably be down for the count.

He immediately has to roll out of the way as the first ninja comes back in with that naginata, and Osprey kicks that ninja's leg out from under him before kipping back up to his feet, turning his focus back to the big guy.

Colleen Wing has posed:
The Hand begin to execute their own. Those few who are unable to keep fighting get a swift sword through the heart. These guys play by different rules as Zatanna would tell it. There is a darkness to some of them too. Several of them look with glowing black eyes toward Phoebe. These are not just the regular hand; they have silver inscribed runes on the cuffs and hems of their ninja clothing. These are Mystical Hand and now they know the rules of the engagement have changed.

Three of them group together and kneel down separate from the battle. Their hands clasp together with fingers pointed as they begin to summon their dark chi. A pulse emanates from their collective and it fills the hearts of the Hand fighting here tonight - and weirdly also Elektra. They begin to speed up, moving faster and are ignoring their wounds; unlike the healing magic of Phoebe this is more like an 'ignore it' magic that they are channeling. This magic is an affront to the Ghost Rider.


"You think of a better line when you're bleeding out..," Colleen says with a cough. But she is truly relieved to have Elektra right next to her.

The ninjas do indeed come at her. Well, them. Colleen sweeps her sword and ducks past the staff blow as her blade comes up in to the upper arm of the ninja with the flail.

He drops it, but he pushes down on to the sword and draws a dagger, trying to drive it in to Colleen. She lets go of her sword, leaving it embedded in his arm and uses both hands to cross block the dagger blow. With a turn she pulls the dagger up and side steps as the machete from the other ninja comes sweeping in. It cuts across the already impaled ninja giving him another wound which he seems to ignore.

"Shit," she mutters as the attack doesn't seem like it's slowing down any time soon. Her eyes glance over at the chanting ninjas and she tries to call out edge wise to the others, "STOP.. THE.." she spins grabbing a wrist and throwing the ninja to the ground while drawing her sword out just in time to parry the next machete blow, "MAGIC.. GUYS..." she pants.

Still, despite how tired and wounded Colleen is, there's something about her now. Her motions are fluid like she's ten steps ahead of her opponents. So much so when an arrow is shot at her she is already pulling out of the way, spins, then catches it in her hand. She looks quite surprised she did this, but snaps the shaft across her knee and uses the remaining part of the arrow as an off hand dagger.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Both Nobu and Babs exchange attacks, Babs' foearms tanking the sword strikes from the red-dressed Hand Lieutenant! Sparks fly off of her forearms with each blocked strike. She sees the ghost Rider coming up from behind Nobu, but his where-with-all is there well enough to deliver a block to the strike from Robbie, followed by a hard charging attack at Babs that sends her toppling over backward across a cement half-wall and down on to the stairs of the clocktower plaza!

Nobu would go for a finishing strike on Babs, but Ghost Rider is preventing that. He has to strike at Robbie again before he can react to Barbara launching herself up in to the air to grab hold of Nobu from behind! Now riding on Nobu from behind, Babs keeps her right arm around his neck as her left holds the top of his head. She's using all her strength-enhanced power she can, but the man isn't falling, he's not being choked out as she's been trained to do to her opponents for ages now!

With a gritted voice, Barbara calls out. "He's on something. Something is powering him!" She says over coms and to those within ear shot of her.

Nobu thrashes about, and tries to toss the redheaded Batgirl off of his back! But she sticks on him, her two toned cape of black and dark gold sways and flows in the wind around them, before Nobu slams backward in to a concrete column, trying to crush Barbara between it and him! The concrete even begins to crack and crumble as he repeatedly slams her backward against it while defending himself from any incoming attacks trying stop him!

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The remaining ninja with the sword isn't the problem for Batgirl as the fight continues on the side of the Clocktower, a hundred feet up. It's that chain, with heavy blade on one end and a mace-like weight on the other. It has range and power both, and she finds herself spending more and more time dodging it.

She leaps for the clock face itself, grabbing hold of the minute hand and pulling herself up atop it. Too late she sees the sword-wielding ninja pull a knife with some red paste on the blade, his arm pulling back to throw it. But rather than whip it into Batgirl as she's pulling herself to her feet, he throws it at the first ninja she took out, the one dangling from her grapple line. The hilt sticks out his throat.

"No, damn you!" the blond Batgirl yells, reaching for a batarang and throwing it even as the ninja pulls out two more blades. He dodges the batarang, while the bladed chain sweeps her way. As Batgirl dodges it by jumping, the blade just misses, smashing her grapple gun then taking a slice out of the Clock's face, another pair of poisoned knives are thrown, killing the two incapacitated ninjas she'd been so careful to leave hanging where they wouldn't fall to their deaths.

"Damn you!" she shouts again and jumps just as the weighted end of chain comes her way. Batgirl intercepts the chain with her glove, letting it wrap around her and using the chain to yank the ninja from his perch on the wall. As the pair fall, Stephanie throws her bo staff like a spear, hitting the remaining ninja in the head.

Batgirl and the two ninjas are falling, her grapple gun already sliced in half. And the chain about her arm keeping her from getting at her batarangs that have lines attached.

<< BALM! Heads up! Need a hand! >> goes out loudly over comms as the three fall from the terminal height.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
Mystical ones. And one that raises the dead. Elektra frowns, they clearly went all out. Though if they fail here? They will be severely weakened. Elektra is already running when the call to take out the chanting ones is given. She knows their danger. And the power they give.

And right now? She is fully powered. Enough that the dark seems to be no problem, she rushing forward, dodging and weaving past various enemies. Power surges within. Not just her chi but that of black sky, speeding her motions to a blur for the split of a second. Enough that she gets past that last barrier of enemies between them and the chanters.

A blade ruptures through one of the men's chests abruptly, blood pouring out. A killing blow. She's taking no chances with these ones.

Sorry Batgirl!

Eyes glow black for a moment but then fade. And she looks across to the others.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The ninjas and The Batgirl fall, there is Death above and certain Death below.

    And she's sure Batman will forgive her this once.

    Two shields light up. One for each ninja, catching them before they hit terminal velocity, and then speeding them to the ground at just knock-out velocity before depositing them in a drainage ditch, to be picked up by the fine friends at GCPD and questioned.

    Then the bat in purple plumets perilously! The Plucky bat in need of aid, Phoebe has one option as she's ziplining upwards.

    She comes almost to Batgirl, and she releases her own grapple line, and she spreads out her arms.

    Rose-gold wings spread out as Phoebe braces for impact, and she catches the Blonde Batte with a heavy grunt of pain (because taking a muscley girl to the chest HURTS LIKE A MOFO), and she wraps her arms around the other armored girl and holds tight.

    "I got you! How's this for 'winging' it?" she breathes out, and then coughs. "Owmyspleen."

Robbie Reyes has posed:
Now the Ghost Rider is torn. Persist in his singleminded goal of dragging Nobu to Hell, or find a way to deal with the trio of Mystics and the *wrongness* they're weaving together. Chain gripped in a gloved hand, he hesitates a moment longer; watching Barbara being thrashed about on Nobu's shoulders like a mechanical bull ride gone completely wrong. Then whipping about as his finely-tuned sense for evil hones in on the glowing circle of casters across the proverbial battlefield.

Growling low, he turns smoothly and swoops his arm in a circle to summon a runefire portal in front of him-- and blurs through it faster than the eye can follow.

A heartbeat later, the leather-clad demon with the flaming head is abruptly materialising behind one of the magic users, and attempting to wrap his chain around his neck, and twist savagely. Hard enough to take his head off his shoulders. The second he shoves onto his back with a booted foot to the chest, and attempts to light him on fire; and the third makes the mistake of looking him in the eye-- which might be the last thing he sees.

The magic pouring off the Mystics burns him like battery acid, causing him to leak oily black blood-smoke here and there in scattered patches. And something else, coming from.. Elektra? He's too occupied at the moment to pay it much mind. Yet.

Mika Yang has posed:
    Mika is dropped back down to her knee again, and getting pushed back hard. The woman drops the tonfas, and draws her butterfly dagger from behind her pants leg. She slashes up with it, forcing everyone to back away. Mika goes into an elegant dance that at first seems to have one dagger, but somehow splits into 2 daggers?! Its two daggers that fit in the same sheathe, and be weilded like one dagger . The woman slashes about as she goes through several wing chun movements. But at the end of the last one, she just punches the Hand Ninja with the hand guard. She smirks a little bit before dodging a weighted chain dagger aimed at her head.. She blinks a little bit.

    "...No. Just...No. Put that down before I have to hurt you! You do not bring those into a fight with me. PERIOD!", Mika says before undoing the catch on her own chain. It starts to unfurl as she puts the two daggers back into one, and putting it in the catch of the chain. She starts to spin the chain about, starting to set up a zone of control around her as the Ninjas back away. She points at Chained Dagger Ninja, and Female healing Ninja. "You're about to be introduced to my world.", Mika says with a smile.

Austin Reese has posed:
Osprey's fight is not going as well as he would like. He evades a few strikes from the ninjato wielder, "Hey dude, come on! I'm trying to fight your big friend!" He calls out to him, ducking another kanabo strike, and then throwing down a group of smoke pellets to give himself a bit of cover as he switches into thermals, only to again have to duck the ninjato. Of course these guys would know how to fight in smoke. But Osprey has a trick up his proverbial sleeve. He blocks another strike from the ninjato, and then sparks dance across Osprey's fist as he slams a taser knuckle into the ninja's stomach. He hits him three more times, just to be safe, and then hefts the ninja and throws him with all the force he can muster into the one with the polearm, "Alright big guy, come on!"

Over comms, Osprey chimes in, "I don't think that guy will be down for long, I could probably use some backup."

Then he closes the distance between himself and the large guy, leaping up onto him with a double kick, only to essentially bounce off of the guy, "What're you made out of!?" He calls out to nobody, dodging the kanabo strike into the ground that cracks the pavement, before delivering a blow to the side of the guy's knee, making it buckle just a bit.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The Bat-Signal painted the clouds tonight. The reason that the Dark Knight was elsewhere, dealing with whatever it was the GCPD felt warranted the Batman's attention. To those who keep an ear to the shared communications system used by members of the Bat's extended family, they'd note he went dark minutes before. Wherever he was, he didn't even want his surrogate children to know.

Somewhere, beyond the smoke-haze and shadows, there's a deep and guttural roar. It takes a moment to understand it for the high-performance engine it is, two halogen headlights cutting through the smoke like a predator's eyes. They create a very familiar silhouette. The shape of justice, vengeance, and the night all wrapped up in one - and it moves like a demon.

Cutting across the plaza, the Batman approaches Nobu from behind. His face - what is visible of it beneath his cowl - is a mask of cold, focused rage. He doesn't hesitate as he wraps the ninja master's head in a lock familiar to the initiated as the Kubi Kudaki. A deadly act if performed without precision and still likely to cause lasting damage to the neck. His arms in place, he shifts his weight in an attempt to throw the man to the ground by his neck.

"Let. Her. Go."

Colleen Wing has posed:
With two of the three chanting magic users suddenly dead, the third lowers his hands and looks at them both. There's actual fear in his eyes when he sees them both. He turns and tries to run for it. The super powered ninjas are back to being regular ridiculously dangerous ninjas.


It's not enough though. Colleen is beyond well trained for this fight and she is putting her all in to it. But then Elektra is gone... she just ran off. So fast. Instantly, the moment she gave the command. A cut to the thigh, broken ribs, punctures to her side, a cut across her shoulder.

The two ninjas left facing Colleen down engage. One with the staff swings it and it hits her right in the injured leg. She drops to one knee and her sword raises up to block the machete of the other one. He starts to push down on it and Colleen grits her teeth, using what little strength she has left to stall him until he gets in close enough.

These ninjas are playing for keeps and if Colleen can do one more thing before she is spent it's to stop them both. The broken arrow head is thrust up in to the man's kidney. As he teeters and drops to the side, she rises up her sword as the staff hits her in a blow to the head - her blade goes right up in to the man's torso. He drops as Colleen does too.


Nobu has fallen. Fighting Batgirl? with magic on his side? that's one thing. Fighting Batgirl -and- Batman -without- magic on his side? that is more than the Lieutenant of Murakami can handle. The blow knocks him out and without his mystical warriors to buff him and the gorget protecting his neck does nothing against the augmented power of the double bats. Dropped to the ground, wrapped in both Babs and Bruce, Nobu Yoshioka succumbs.

Colleen does not get to see the retreat initiate. The ninjas have lost their battle field commander and so they begin making strategic yet violent retreat away from the clocktower. Back to the shadows. There's at least two dozen bodies on the ground. Most dead from the Hand killing their own - some unconscious where the defenders of Gotham could subdue them.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
It's when Nobu finally falls, that Babs, covered in the crumbling cement chunks from that column that the Ninja Lieutenant was slamming her in to, rolls off of him. She rolls on to her side, and then tries to get up to her right knee. Droplets of blood fall on the ground, Nobu's sword caught her at some point doing the melee, and her left gloved hand goes to cover the area right against her hip where the blood is coming from.

"Nice... to see you." She says up to her mentor in Batman. "These guys, are... making a mess of my place." She groans out as she now tries to stagger up to her feet, looking around at the chaos of the situation, her cape and red hair flowing out to the side.

"Statuses?" Babs' voice comms out to everyone. "We need to make sure everyone is okay." She adds with her eyes dropping down to Nobu to see if he's out cold still, or if he's not quite out of the fight.

Elektra Natchios has posed:
The ninjas begin to retreat. Great. Elektra drops to one knee, one of her blades (now bloodied fully) stabs the ground. She is breathing heavy and even with Balm's healing earlier she's feeling exhaustion abate on her. Yet they had won the day. And with a great cost to the Hand.

She looks around, looking to see if there's any wounded or dead on the side of the Bats. A weary look given to the sudden arrival of Batman but she says nothing. No need to call attention to an assassin being around his turf tonight.

Getting back up she approaches Colleen. "Seems we live to fight another day." even if Colleen is apparently unconscious on the ground. So she reaches down to pick her up on her arms.

Eyes then skin over Babs, "My thanks.., you really saved us back there." respect on her voice.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The blond Batgirl is caught by Balm before she can hit the ground and go splat. Her cape's gliding ability just wouldn't have been able to catch enough air to slow her without Phoebe's timely intervention.

"Yeah, I'm so taking good care of that duck," she says to Phoebe as the other swings them through the air. Batgirl quickly catches the chain wrapped about her arm against those protruding armor studs, manipulating one to reveal a sharp edge that snaps the chain when the proper leverage is applied, freeing it from her arm.

As they reach the ground, Batgirl looks for enemies but sees they have retreated. A quick glance up and Stephanie takes a few steps to the side, catching her bo staff that she'd used like a spear ten stories up as it reaches the ground. She plants the end on the pavement and leans on it.

"By the way. Anyone know what the words to 'Gangnam Style' mean?" she asks.

Mika Yang has posed:
    Mika blinks as her two ninjas start running away! Wait, WHAT!?! She frowns, and does start to chase after them before pausing a moment. Ummm, lets not chase the murderous ninjas. She rubs her knee, her forearms, her back. Mika takes a moment to think about what her status is as she's close enough to hear Babs. "Status is Ouch.", she starts calmly. "I'll start heading up to medical to get it ready for those who need it.", she states calmly as she starts wrapping the chain back up against her arm. The dagger gets put back under the pants leg. She sighs a bit, giving a small limp. Getting hit in the back of the knee /HURTS/.

Robbie Reyes has posed:
No shortage, surely, of those slaughtered in cold blood by the Ghost Rider. *He* has no compunctions whatsoever about killing in all its grotesque and florid glory, unlike the Bat family.

His attention shifts to Elektra as his prey flees before he can properly torment it. The blade-tipped chain still hangs from one gloved hand, blood and gore already ablating off the superheated metal and turning to ash as it falls.

"I see you," is all he says to the injured woman in that terrible voice that isn't Robbie's at all-- despite using his voicebox, and a simulacrum of what used to be his mouth. Now a row of razor-sharp fangs in an armoured silver skull.

Then the flames abruptly go out; and with a hiss of pain, Reyes manages to wrestle control back of his body. He's hurt, but nothing that won't repair itself in short order.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You do know it's a song about Korean Rappers living a life of excess?" Balm asks Batgirl as she taps her feet against the ground, and she breathes out, holding her hands up, and she tiiilts slowly to one side.

    "Don't tell Batman I popped wings." she states conspiritally to Stephanie, and then gives a slight breath outwards and hangs her head.

    "I really do think I burst something. Need a minute."

Austin Reese has posed:
The big ninja's knee buckles, which means Osprey actually managed to damage him. There's no response of pain, but it seems that with the commander down, and the retreat being sounded, he disappears back into the smoke, along with the other two, soon leaving Osprey alone, scanning the smoke with night vision and IR and not getting any readings.

"Osprey here. I'm clear.." He says, a bit of a wince in his voice as the adrenaline starts to leave his body and the broken ribs set in.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
When Nobu doesn't get up, the Bat immediately steps over him to carefully survey Barbara. If he hears what she's saying to him, he doesn't make it immediately clear. Eyes turn upwards to the tower and the makeshift shield of bats that surround it, the corner of his mouth quirking up into the faintest half of a smile when he realises she's okay.

"Hard to miss that," he offers, "Giving the Commissioner a run for his money."

Satisfied, he turns now to survey the scene. White eyes lock on the Ghost Rider, whom he immediately approaches. There's no fear in his gait, no hesitation. He stands there, locks eyes with the Spirit of Vengeance - the Death-Bringer in Hell's service - and bares teeth at him. He seems unperturbed when the Ghost Rider becomes Robbie once again, meeting the young man's eyes. When he speaks, it is not the reasonably pleasant tones of Bruce Wayne that he moments ago shared with Barbara. This is the voice of the Batman.

"Get out of my city."

To emphasize his point, both gauntlet-clad hands spear out to grasp him by the upper arms. Palms grind into mystically-inflicted burn wounds mercilessly.

"Now."

And then, he lets him go. As quickly as he came, he is gone. A step into the smoke, the hiss of his grapnel gun, and the roaring retreat of the Batmobile in the distance.

Colleen Wing has posed:
In a sky scraper, New York City, four of the five fingers of the Hand, the commanders - leaders, sit at a board room table. It's rare for them all to gather together like this. But a Declaration of War was made on the Defenders. Murakami initiated the vote. Four in favor, One against.

They sent black sky. They sent Murakami's warriors. Yet, somehow, it wasn't enough. The battle began in Hell's Kitchen and spread all the way to Gotham. Murakami committed his lieutanant Nobu Yoshioka to the fight. And still it wasn't enough.

"I'm going to say it, if no one else will," begins Bakuto. "You have overreached. You have exposed us and wasted our resources. Now black sky is dead - may be. Or perhaps is in Elektra. This is a problem." He glances at Reid momentarily. "I call for a vote of no confidence against you Murakami."

On speaker phone, the fifth finger of the hand agrees, "I concur." Gao feels blood in the air - this could be her chance. "I also agree." Reid slowly raises an eyebrow - for her not all is lost. Yet. "I agree too."

Murakami is a shield of quiet and patience. He took the Hand to open war and it does not end because one battle was lost. Now a new battle front has opened up before him. His position as leader of the Hand is in question. "Then the challenge has been accepted and we shall see who has the prowess to take this seat." He rises, turns, and departs the meeting room.