16052/Rampage On The Roof! Swordplay at Stately Wayne Manor!

Rampage On The Roof! Swordplay at Stately Wayne Manor!
Date of Scene:	10 October 2023
Location:	Rooftop - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Talia and Phoebe talk over duels on a Wayne Manor rooftop and fighting.
Cast of Characters:	Talia al Ghul, Phoebe Beacon

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Talia al Ghul has posed:
On the rooftop, Talia Al Ghul is practicing. It's late out, and the moon is bright. She had a blade out. A long and curved one. Too long to be a katana, and yet something similar. But the weapon is too bulky to be something Oriental, and has a hilt too large to be one either. The hilt has a set of spiked grooves on it. Talia slices through the air.

In the bright moonlight, the blade cleaves through it. Scything, slashing, darting in and out. There's no actual kata to it. Just motion, leaving to the winds and to the sword.

It's very, very much a dance. In the moon's glow. Of a blade moving fast enough to nearly slice bullets out of midair, fast enough and powerful enough to cleave through bones like butter. It's an exquisite display - of skill devoted to casual murder.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's late out, the waning moon is bright, the leaves are turning in New Jersey, and the chill of autumn is in the air. And on one of the many chimneys on Stately Wayne Manor, a figure hops up to perch, wearing a loose sweatshirt against the cold, eyes adjusted to the dim light surrounding them is Phoebe. Her hair has been pulled into a pair of low, braided buns to keep it neat, and she appears to have alighted from above.

     -- there is very few things 'above' that she could have jumped down from. She watches Talia's form, listening to the way the blade slices through the ir, watching the flow of Talia's movements. The art of the sword had *always* been fascinating to Phoebe.

    And quietly, she bares witness with this fascination.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia's speed is not as great as many in the Bat-Family. Her skill is not as great as many in the Bat-Family. Her dexterity is not as great as many. What separates her from them in her style is that there is no restraint in it. Each strike, each slash, each twist of a blade, of a limb is distilled to it's rawest intent.
    To maim. To mutilate. To murder. Every single person in the Bat-Family knows how to fight full out. But they always will turn, hold back, resist. The training is to understand -how- to fight that way. So one can fight against those who fight that way.
    Talia? Her dance is honest. There is no restraint. No resistance. The blade dances through the moonlight, as if it were trying to catch each beam coming down to send it flying back.
    Talia? Her dance is to violence. It is with total honesty that she gives herself to her craft. Her blade crests for carnage. She does not deny it.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe too has had to use her skills for brutality -- in the worlds she walks, sometimes there isn't the alternative -- something Batman had acknowledged a long time ago. Demons aren't like gangsters, you cannot reform someone who's been making infernal contracts. You just send them back to Hell.

    So Phoebe leaps up and over another bank of chimneys, and she steps into Talia's strike zone, the whisper of steel leaving a scabbard as she draws her own sword, and at the coda of one of Talia's dances she holds it, catching the blow.

    Her dark eyes look up to Talia al Ghul.

    She doesn't ask, but her eyebrows do rise up in asking -- may I cut in?

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Better forgiveness than permission. But, since Phoebe goes to ask if she can insert herself over to this dance.. Talia goes to permit it. Rather than gesturing over at Phoebe.. She goes to greet Phoebe the way she would anyone else coming to engage her.
    With violence. First, a dagger is flung past the girl. Enough of a miss to show that the intent is part of the duel, not the death. Then Talia's blade goes to sweep and scythe. And she goes to blur as she crests in the pale moonlight, striking. Her attack curved just enough to make it clear it's part of the dance, the duel, the twists.. There is music here. Heard by no one but her.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    With Violence.

    Phoebe weaves to the side and away from the dagger, and partakes in the dance. The drumming of hearts, the song of steel on steel, the tattoo of their feet on the rooftop. Phoebe knows the steps, but not as well as Talia -- but it's clear that the young woman has been hard at practice. Possibly even challenging Damian (and losing horribly, but such is the way when you take on the Heir to the Demon). She dips and weaves, playing defensive in their pas a deux.

    she uses the tabi boot she's wearing to draw up the thrown dagger and drawing it up, she crosses the blades to try and catch Talia's and bring her foot to tap the inside of her foot's arch.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The exchange picks up intensity. It's not about skill, experience, power.. It's about giving in to the violence. To letting it channel, guide, and enthrall. To be enraptured, enamored in it. The art. Talia respects Phoebe by not holding back. By treating the girl with respect by going against her.
    The blades cross, the counter-kick goes past Talia. She moves her head just enough to avoid the snap of it. Shoulder going upto try and control the ankle, to get it just out of position.. Other hand going to pop up with a dagger, moving with precision to cut the femoral artery along her thigh before it could be retracted. The blade again turned just enough that if it hit raw it would not dig in.
    Talia respects Phoebe by treating her as an equal. Worthy of attention. Worthy of respect.
    Worthy of effort.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And Phoebe works just as hard with Talia's lessons of violence as she does Bruce's, or Zatanna's magic guidance. She pays attention, she watches, she learns -- and she adapts.

    She tries to side-step Talia, narrowly turning and avoiding the blade coming down on her as she breathes out and drops, as Talia's follow through draws so does Phoebe's heel, coming up to try and knock Talia to a lower section of the rooftop with a heel to the side as her won follow through rights her, ready to press the attack against Talia this time, taking up the offensive.

    Phoebe's entire life has been violence. Hunted like prey. Bullied in school. Constant fights. Even through superheroism it was martial. Fighting with others. Against herself. Violence against her own body.

    It was something she knew well.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Is it the right thing to do? To indulge in violence? To let it guide one as a way of instinct, of naturalness? Talia exerts enough control to ensure she does not give in to the murderous rage that normally drives her. Just enough to keep it from subsuming her. Blades meet with power and drive.
    The counter-strike hits, even as Talia goes to control her descent over to the lower level of the roof. And she's on the defensive now as she goes to withdraw along the rooftops. Blades would match, sparks would fly, and the moonlight's resonance would be added to by the clash of blades, of multi-layered steel straining as each woman guided their attacks upon one another.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    To indulge in the nature of humanity. Humanity was violent. Their work as Superheroes was inheriently violent. Broken bones and bruised bodies lay in the wake of the Bat Family, inspiring fear, instilling that sense of the need to survive the encounters with them.

    And Phoebe herself. Walker in this world and the next. Both Bat sworn against killing, and executioner of those who would prey on mortality. The attacks continue, offensive, defensive, turning and arching, the occasional acrobatic movement but every bit as measured as Talia's own -- in most cases.

    She was still so young and new, but looking for approval she had given this dance her all. Seat in the moonlight, sparks as their swords meet, skidding along the shingles on the roof as she takes a blow, pushing her nearly to a drop to the yard below!

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia allows Phoebe to set the rhythm of the fight. This is not a true duel. Yet it is not a practice one either. It is the two slashing at one anouther with just enough restraint to not be trying to dismember the other. The blades lance and strike, thrust and parry. Talia yields now to Phoebe's control, fighting defensively even as she's pushed near to the edge. Now, she goes to start to countermaneuver as the two exchange their arcs in the pale moonlight.
    She spins, twisting about to sidestep and arc around. In a violent, almost instant pirouette. Blade twisting about in her hand, passed off to let her off-hand take it, other hand coming up with a dagger. This one is at an angle where it's clear that it's for Phoebe to take. To add to her own arsenal for the evening.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    CLANG.

    Phoebe catches the dagger in their dance, and she braces herself against the edge of the roof, the hard down below as she presses her own attack. She now has a dagger, throwing knife (tucked into her boot, naturally), and the dagger. Phoebe uses the sword for defense now, and the dagger to present the threat as she presses the attack towards Talia, forcing her up to the high ground.

    And finally she goes for the disarm that Talia had taught her. Smoothly, like oil, drawing her sword and the dagger up to try and rob Talia of her weapon -- and stop just short of a killing blow.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
The blade is at close range caught and knocked away. Talia allows the disarm to happen. Sometimes one has to expend more effort to hold on to it than it is worth. In a fight, being that off balance is an instant death. So better to lose a weapon than struggle for it than give up control for that short period of time. Even if in the long run being disarmed is a losing tactic.
    Talia goes to then strike back out, palm aimed over at Phoebe's chin. As Phoebe goes to fight with the blade, Talia goes to move into close quarters. Where fists and knives held the advantage at range of just meters, perhaps even centimeters! Her body is a blur, her giving fully to the fight. Phoebe understands it. Talia revels in it.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe appears to need the pause. She takes a blow to her mouth and nose. There's the crack of bone. The nose breaks. The orbital shatters. It could have been a killing blow all on its own, when Phoebe drops her weapons and brings her hands up, her face scrunched, and she gives a bubbling sound of 'Need a question' through the blood at her nose.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
There's a pause now from Talia. The point is the dance. The engagement. Not the agony. Not the end. She goes to give the girl her breather. She pauses. Still in the moonlight. Not retrieving her weapon nor going to take out another. She merely waits for Phoebe to make her query, permission given.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pulls her hand away. Her face is still a bloody mess, but her nose is back to being straight, her eyes are bruised, but the bruise even now is fading, and she tilts her head back a minute, making a face before she turns and spits blood, and then wipes her face on the back of her hand.

    "How do you get over your first kill?" she asks, giving a pant out as her dark eyes turn to Talia.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would muse for a moment, in consideration over and close her eyes thoughtfully. There's a hum in her voice as she replies after a few moments. "EIther one is so disgusted by it that they can barely do so again, if ever. The pain, the guilt, the trauma is too much." How it had gone for Cassandra.
    "Or one merely does more. It fades as any other thing does." One kills more. The lives taken lose their impact and their meaning.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe is quiet a moment. She turns, and picks up her sword, but sheathes it, and goes to sit on the edge of the roof. Her legs danger a moment as she catches her breath, and then gives a little whisper of Latin, and the blood lifts like fine ash from her face and clothing, leaving her clean and with the olfactory quality to her magic -- the smell of roses, of black pepper and that sharp bite of citrus.

    "I thought I would ask you. Damian seems to think reporting it to Bruce might have some repurcussions."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would cock her head to the side and look thoughtful. Then she would say, quietly. "He will find out." He found out all things after all. "He will not understand. But he will appreciate you telling him of your own initiative. That you were truthful over it. And came to him."
    Whether or not he would handle it well was another thing. But he -would- find out. And better to be the one to tell him than for him to find it had been hidden.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a slight nod. "I typically operate under the assumption that he already knows. I don't think this was something I could hide."

    Phoebe shifts her weight a moment, and then gives a breath out, rubbing her hands together.

    She takes a breath, and lets it out quietly.

    "Thank you for not making a... y'know... big deal about it. Like y'know -- confetti cannon with blood red glitter. That would take a lot more explaining."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would shrug, "A death taken is nothing to celebrate. But neither is to make a ritual of denial over it. It is sometimes a necessity. It is something that at some level we resist and struggle against. Training is designed to press away these concerns. To channel instinct away from this sense of wrongness. It is not my place to judge you for what you have done or under what circumstances. I was not there."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That is... remarkably refreshing, actually. Seems an awful lot of people like to jump to conclusions." Phoebe replies quietly.

    "... please don't do glitter cannons, by the way. Awful for the environment. But... I also wanted to thank you. What you taught me saved ten kids from having their souls dragged to Hell."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would let out a sigh, "I have taken many lives. I shlal take many more in the ages to come." She admits it. Killing is what she was trained to be. What she was made to be. That shall be forever her focus. And it is likely among the many reasons that Wayne Manor will never be there for her eternally. Not if she ever could cast away the furnance that made her.
    "I am glad to have been of some aid." She does not apologize. She does not add 'and you will hopefully not need it again'.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "More than you know, Talia." Phoebe decides, and then she offers Talia her dagger back.

    "Not everyone works in the light. He might never understand, but there are some people who are better off removed from this side of the veil." Phoebe agrees quietly. "And some demons we can't tame."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would shake ehr head, "Keep it. You have earned it. And I think that he understands at a level. Just he disagrees. I do not know. I do not have the right to presume otherwise." One must admit their failures.
    "But some things need burnt, cast away, and obliterated." Was that not how she saw the world? How her father did? That mania in her eyes was tempered.. but still there. Soothed.. But ready to burn anew.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's right hand crosses over her chest. She grips at her left shoulder, considering the words as she slides the dagger back into her boot.

    "Some things burn so that others can grow, like a forest fire." she replies, and she tilts her head back a moment, and looks to Talia. "Thank you for helping to mentor me."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would bow her head, "You are welcome. I hope that I can help you learn how to guide yourself." She does not say to guide Phoebe. But to help the girl learn how to do it for herself. There is a difference, after all.