16668/Christmas Ballroom Blitz

Christmas Ballroom Blitz
Date of Scene:	25 December 2023
Location:	Gotham Royal Hotel
Synopsis:	Flatline crashes a target's party. Rook attempts to stop her, with disastorous results. Kissy faces!
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Flatline

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Damian Wayne has posed:
Barnaba Natoli has earned the nickname 'Goliath' for two reasons. For one, the man is over seven and a half feet tall, heavily built and it's rumored that he has to have his cars customized to fit his girthy frame. Secondly, it's because he's considered one of the giants when it comes to mutant trafficking in Gotham. Back when Genosha was part and parcel for for mutant slave labor, he made money hand over fist with kidnapping runway mutants from the streets of Gotham and selling them to Genoshian slave traders.

After the fall and rebuild of Genosha as a mutant haven, business has been tough. Now, he sells them for experimentation, for illegal fight clubs, and of course, prostitution.

But he still puts on the airs of being one of the high class elite in Gotham City. Which is why he rented out the Royal Hotel's ballroom to host his annual daughter's birthday. There are plenty of those that still suck up to Natoli, but his daughter has invited plenty of her friends and they are all mingling, having fun and enjoying themselves.

A large table has been set up with a birthday cake and presents -- most of which are wrapped in Christmas paper, because people love to just combine the two, since they're lazy.

The Goliath can't afford the security he used to, and this party is a last bash to try to curry favor with the upper crust of Gotham. To be able to continue to live this lifestyle. And to keep those that want his head, be it competitors, mutants, or... in this case...

Across the street from the Royal Ballroom, Rook has settled into position. He had gotten a lead on the Goliath and has every intention of bringing him down tonight. Perferably not in front of his daughter. Which is why he is waiting, as Barnaba moves to lead her out onto the floor.

Flatline has posed:
    A teenage fete? A possibility of party crashing? Free food and -- oh, yeah, she had orders to kill someone here. Bleh. WHATEVER LORD DEATH MAN.

    So Flatline was wearing a little black dress. Black boots. A hoodie over her head as she shifts between different little crowds, giving a sigh.

    This was boring. This was awful This would have been better if she was able to open a couple of the presents.

    She moves behind the present table, humming to herself as she looks over the gifts. She pulls out one of her knives, and gives a soft grunt as she slices at some of the girl's presents to take a look beneath the paper.

    "Boring. Boring. Ooh, this is pricy --" she whispers, slowly pulling out one of the gifts "Expensive bags o/`" she hums gently.

    And yes, she was hired to execute Goliath. Not his kid.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Boring is good though. It means it's safe. The music is theme'd to the teenager. Should be something Nika likes, right?

As she is nosing through the gifts, there's the first signs of trouble. A few of the girls, the type that go to the same type of school that a certain prismatic mutant may have gone to when she was in the money have noticed Flatline.

And like any girl, they're whispering amongst themselves, trying to figure out who she is. And everyone is drawing a blank.

So, leave it to one of them to come over to where Nika is nosing into the presents and asks, "Uh. Ex-cuse me. But that's /not/ for you. I got that gift, I'd appreciate you not sticking your nose in it!" she protests loudly.

"And who are you anyway, are you like, a party-crasher? That dress looks like a Salvation Army special!"

One of her friends has a phone and filming. They're totally making a video of the interaction: Watch me kick out this scrub from my friend's bday!

Rook, outside, has noticed the interaction, but did not see Flatline slicing at presents, so he's not reacting yet.

Flatline has posed:
    <Ugh. Teenagers.> Flatline states in Russian as she (herself a teenager), and she rolls her eyes as she takes the purse from the box, and turns it over and opens it when the girls ask if she's a party crasher. She turns her eyes to the girls, her eyes looking to the camera. She gives a small smile in the shadow of her hoodie.

    "Is Fake." she states, and she gives a toss of the purse to the girl filming.

    And when it hits, there's a sudden flash and a bang. THe goal? Make the girls scream. She turns around, and Flatline slides beneath the table and away from the girls.

    Let's stir up a little commotion, and she pulls a cuople of smokebombs, and slings them across the room to start a little more pandemonium

Damian Wayne has posed:
The girl filming gasps, as the bully girl shouts. "I spent more on that purse than you make in a year at McDonald's!" comes her cry, "It's totally real."

The flash bang goes off and Flatline's attack begins. There's a scream as the girls all start to flee from the party, parents herding them and trying to lead them to safety as the smokebombs are deployed and start to increase the confusion and panic that is overtaking the event.

Goliath, having lost track of his daughter, is looking around for her. "Elisa!" he calls out. "Where are you?!"

Which means he's seperated, and alone. A nice large, juicy buffalo for the carrion call.

Outside, the sudden flash alerts Rook. A hiss between his teeth and he looks aside at the large gargoyle he was using for cover. "A little warning next time." he comments with a tch, before he leaps from the building, a graceful glide towards the skylight before he rolls and kicks out.

The glass shatters, sending pieces of his scattering across the ballroom as the music on the speakers continues to blare out in an electronic ballroom dance mix.

Rook's cape flares, showing the inner yellow of it as he lands on one of the tables, his eyes immediately scanning the crowd for both Goliath, who is fumbling his way through the smoke-covered dancefloor, and the girl in the LBD that was out of place from the jump, and now has his undivided attention. "Get out of here!" he yells at the girls, dropping a birdarang into his hand.

Flatline has posed:
    Flatline is seeking out Goliath. There was a couple of moments where she gives a little smile, she takes a step towards Goliath. She spins a knife in her hand and gets ready for the attack and killing blow -- nice and clean -- when suddenly there's a huge amount of glass slamming down around her, it plinkoplates, shards catching against her hood as she breathes out, and she sees the Rook. She breathes out, an eyebrow rising up as she curls her toes in her boots.

    She halts her banter. She lowers an additional blade into her hand as she breathes out.

    And she gives a feral sort of smile. She's always wanted to fight a Bat. And this is a Bat indeed.

    Goliath can't wait, however.

    She feints left, and goes right, and tries to hamstring Rook in passing. She's testing his defenses.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Rook senses the movement in the smoke, catching it out of the corner of his eye. He doesn't recognize her. But she's fast. Surprisingly fast. The rush towards him causes him to step back, trying to read her movement. The feint is executed perfectly.

And when she reverses the field, he has to move quickly to avoid the attack. The blade catches cloth, ripping into it, but there's no cutting of the flesh, no blood. It was dangerously close, but she's able to get a good gauge of his defenses.

A Bat, indeed. Lips set in a thin line, he realizes what she may be here for. And it wasn't to crash the party for the swag bags and free cake. Nor does she seem to be here to be Goliath's protector. Quite the opposite.

That puts a wrinkle on things. Before his father, Damian would have probably been completely fine with the hit on the trafficker.

But now... he's pressed into protecting him.

"This is for your own good!" Rook snaps at Goliath as he moves to land a kick on the big guy, pushing him back as Flatline was making her attack vector known. A birdarang is flicked out, sent flying at the girl to try to ruin her trajectory.

Not that Goliath is very appreciative of the gesture. Instead he growls. "Fucking brats, I'll smash both of you!" he yells out, grabbing a table to try to swing around to smash into the pair of combatants.

Flatline has posed:
    Oooch. Flatline slides forward, ducking down and uses her small size as Goliath is alerted to her attacks. She gives a low hiss between her teeth as she narrows her eyes are she turns to regard Rook. She draws her knives tightly into a reverse grip. She turns to regard Rook, her eyes set on his dark form before Goliath decides to turn the tables.

    Literally.

    Short stature serves her well as she simply bridges backwards, beneath the table (OH NO, CAKE!) bending backwards easily and waiting for the table to strike Rook, and gives her a little more space between her and the Bat.

    She keeps her eyes on the second most dangerous thing in the room.

    Of course, she's the most dangerous. She doesn't have to play by Bat-Rules.

Damian Wayne has posed:
While Flatline is going low and under the table, Rook is going high. A yank of the grapple line into the cieling and he's yanked up and away from the table that crashes through the space that he and Flatline had occupied just a moment ago. "You need to run." he snarls at Goliath.

And to accenuate his point, Rook yanks the blade from the sheath at the small of his back. The blade, marked with the runes from the League of Assassins, flashes in the light as he cuts the line and moves to close the distance between himself and Flatline.

The blade is swung around in a graceful arc, and Nika can see it - he's well trained in it's use. But she can see something else, as well.

He's not using the blade as he should. It should be used in a killing strike, a motion meant to sever and end a life. Instead, he's only using it as a feint, to try to keep her off-balance and keep her blades occupied and open her up for a non-lethal strike.

"If you are a mutant that's looking for vengence, Goliath will be turned over to the authorities for trial!" he growls. "There is enough evidence to put him away."

It's a bluff, but it's his hope it slows the little assassin down. It's what one of his siblings would do.

And it's a mistake.

Flatline has posed:
    It is a mistake.

    Flatline, however, is aware of those runes, of that blade, of that meaning. And her grin shines beneath that light. She spins her knives in her hand as she weighs her choices, moving deftly to the side and away from the nonleathal blow, drawing her blade about, bringing her blade to just above Rook's wrist, blade pointing downwards to peirce him through (so seasonal~), and she turns to face Rook's mask.

    "I don't think so." she states quietly, and then she goes on the attack.

    She comes on the inside, turning with keeping his wrist covered with the knife, and comes to bring the long, slender blade to his neck, aiming to peirce that Adam's Apple.

    This little assassin isn't playing games.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Rook is probably one of the most lethal hand to hand fighters in the Bat-family. He could easily go toe to toe with most anyone that is on the street level. When he is going all out. When he isn't tied to those rules that his father has had him under for the last three years since he arrived in Gotham.

It's made him weak. Soft.

Vulnerable.

The blade that's driven through his wrist brings a howl of pain. The blade he was carrying is dropped from his hand, clattering to the ground and under the table.

He twists his hand, knowing it's only going to hurt worse, but as Flatline moves to turn the wrist, Rook goes with it. He increases the torque to try to break the girl's grip - and keep the blade embedded in his wrist. He can't afford for her to cut deeper and draw more blood as it already is pooling around her grip.

For a moment, they are face to face, his eyes hidden behind the mask so that the Russian girl can't see them. Which is a shame, because they are full of shock.

The second blade comes up, and Rook's head jerks upwards. Nope, not getting lost in those eyes.

The blade cuts upwards, scraping along his neck, tearing part of the Adam's Apple, nicking the carotid artery.

He knows he's in danger, immediately. Mortal danger. And while Goliath has used the time they were fighting to leave... Rook now has to ponder his own escape.

He drives his knee up, attempting to slam it into Flatine's stomach to drive it up towards her lungs. He's got to make space. he knows he probably has about five minutes, max, before the wounds are fatal.

He probably has thirty seconds of that to escape. As soon as the knee drives up, he uses his free hand to fire a grapple line to yank him up and away from his dangerous dance partner.

Flatline has posed:
    The moment they are face to face, Flatline makes kissy faces at the Bat, trying to knock Rook further off his game as she slices across his neck, catching the scent of blood. Her eyes are half closed, her grin drawing up because if she murders a Bat... she gets so much information, so many skills possib--

    Mortal danger and excitement blinded Flatline. She gives an OOF, her eyes going wide, her mouth forming an O as she curls up, the breath leaving her body as the knee strikes her stomach and her diaphram.

    And Rook is afforded the moment to escape.

    And the police have responded to the calls from panicked parents and one girl who is crying about the money she spent on a purse for another girl, and Flatline narrows her eyes, and turns, pursuing Goliath.

    She'll still get her kill and her information.

    Now, what is poor Rook going to do about his situation? Poor baby bat.

Damian Wayne has posed:
What's Rook doing? He's sending out emergency calls. For the GCPD to secure Goliath and his daughter.

That done, as he lands on the edge of the roof, he stumbles. Already, his vision is blurred, a light-headiness coming over him from the wounds to his wrist and neck.

He needs to find medical attention himself. And quick. There's a scan of Bats that are active that are nearby, and he's already heading off to seek help.

They will meet again.