18601/Gangs of New York: Bless the Children

Gangs of New York: Bless the Children
Date of Scene:	24 July 2024
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	One more battle in the war to save the soul of Hell's Kitchen is won while one more soul in Hell's Kitchen is saved.
Cast of Characters:	Luca Bandoni, Sara Pezzini, Gar Logan, Sam Wilson, Logan Howlett, Kamala Khan, Tandy Bowen, Tyrone Johnson, Evan Sabahnur, Bruce Wayne

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Luca Bandoni has posed:
Hell's Kitchen is a neighborhood on the brink. The gang war has escalated to a fever pitch, and the once-safe haven of the Holy Cross Recreation Center is now under siege. Founded to provide troubled teens with an alternative to gang life, the center has been a beacon of hope amidst the chaos. But tonight, that beacon is has been dimmed by the Scorched Skulls.

Inside the recreation center, fear hangs thick in the air. The teens, who have come seeking refuge and guidance, now find themselves at the mercy of the very violence they had hoped to escape. The Scorched Skulls, a ruthless gang known for their fiery insignia and merciless tactics, prowl the halls, their presence a stark reminder of the streets' harsh reality. The gang?s leader, a menacing figure with a skull tattooed on his face, barks orders, his voice echoing through the once lively gymnasium.

Outside, the tension is palpable. The streets are eerily quiet, with no sign of the police yet. Parents and community members gather, their faces etched with worry and anger. Among them, a hand full of heroes wait to intervene. The stage is set for a confrontation that will determine not just the fate of the hostages, but perhaps the soul of Hell's Kitchen itself.

The building itself is a squat, long brick affair with minimal windows and a double steel reinforced door, a door meant to keep the very threat now being faced at bay. But the good Father Clancy wasn't prepared for a siege.

Luca, finding himself off shift and with time to kill, pulls up a block away intent on keeping a promise to a boy - a promise to show up at the center for a basketball game. He hasn't even parked before it's obvious that something is not right in the Kitchen.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
Normally Detective Sara Pezzini wasn't part of the Gang Task force of the NYPD. Acting captain of the Special Investigation Unit out of Bushwick, her expertise was applied elsewhere. Tonight however, she was already off duty and heading home when she heard the call regarding Holy Cross Recreation Center.

Slowing only slightly, she turns her motorcycle around and pours on speed. The rise in gang activity had put every officer on edge, and the calls regarding more violence among the gangs had off duty and on duty officers responding in kind.

Pulling up a block away from the center, she parked her bike off the street and started looking around for the officer in charge... there wasn't one, at least not yet. There was however a Luca... somehow she just knew he'd be here. She offers the man a nod before radioing in that she was on scene, her location, and the general layout of what things looked like outside on the streets.

Gar Logan has posed:
'Dear Teen Titans', the E-mail said, 'My name is Amelia. I am very worried about my brother. I can't say what he was doing but he stopped, so it's okay, and no one really got hurt. Father Clancy helped him find a job and we're all much happier. And then his old friends showed back up...'

E-mail duty was Vic's idea. Keep connected to the average kid. Beast Boy said it was dangerous at best, but here he is reading these things anyway. It's probably fake. Probably a trick to get some photos of the freaks in the giant tower. Beast Boy chews on his fang.

An hour later, a green pigeon is flapping through Hell's Kitchen. It lands on a building, taking a long look at the angry men in gang colors storming around the neighborhood and how the old church's lights are on this late. And the doors boarded up. The bird flies closer.

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam Wilson had made a solemn promise to appear as Falcon tonight, despite the battle damage the EXO had sustained during the intense conflict at Os-Corp Tower. Most of his day had been consumed by painstaking repairs to the Falcon armor, and as the evening drew near, while it wasn't fully restored, it was at least operational enough for his needs-no need for missiles, just functionality.

Rising from the ground at his home in Happy Harbor, he soared towards Hell's Kitchen with purpose, intent on honoring Luca's invitation to the event. The invitation still glowed on his phone screen as he navigated the city skyline, the familiar weight of responsibility settling on his shoulders.

Touching down near the church in Hell's Kitchen, Sam retracted his wings into the sleek armor, surveying the area around the gymnasium. Despite the bustling neighborhood, a strange unease crept over him. The usual crowd milling around the building seemed absent, replaced by an eerie emptiness that hinted at an unsettling undercurrent.

He frowned, instincts honed by years of vigilantism and heroics alerting him to potential danger. "Something feels off," he muttered to himself, eyes scanning for any signs of trouble. Instead of eager attendees clamoring to enter the event, it appeared as though people were actively avoiding the vicinity, as if fleeing from some unseen threat.

Sam's jaw tightened with resolve. Whatever was happening, he couldn't afford to ignore it. With the Falcon armor securely encasing him, he steeled himself for the unexpected, ready to fulfill his promise and ensure the safety of those in Hell's Kitchen, Luca's invitation still a reminder of the evening's dual purpose-celebration and rebirth.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Corben (talk) "Down on the floor! Get up against the fuckin' wall! Nobody move!!" The violence is sudden, directed, practiced. They storm the building as one, herding hostages into what -had- to be pre-ordained corrals, threatening youngsters and volunteers and visitors alike with imminent death; a promise leveraged with firearm, truncheon, and... superpowers. Great.

Sure, Wolverine could react to the commando squad that fast. Extrude adamantium and turn the shelter into Claw City. Probably win, too; if you want to call that level of hurt winning. As soon as it starts, though, there's a gun to more than one kid's head. There's a shotgun leveled on a priest. There's a knife at a nice girl's throat.

Thus, there's a runty Canuck led along with the other hostages, at gunpoint himself; but taking it a hell of a lot better than most. He looks over the men, he triggered the X-Men alert attached to his wristwatch, after entirely muting the comms. When Chuck-- or another of the team's resident telepathic prodigies-- get back to him in his head, they get a look at all this, alongside a cryokinetic and an electricity-wielder, and then the Wolverine turns his focus back to doing what he has to do.

"What do you people even want, bub?" Logan asks gruffly, trying with only marginal success to keep the danger, the wrath out of his voice, "You know this is a fuckin' shelter, right?" Logan talks to that mook, but his eyes track his surroundings; picking out the nearby hostages, tracing a path to the angry guy with a -very- classy skull tattoo covering his entire stupid face who seems to be running this shitshow.

Kamala Khan has posed:
You better not pout, you better not cry, Kamala Khan is... well, not coming to town. She's already in town. But she's definitely carrying a large sack of charitable clothes donations for the Holy Cross Recreation Center. Admittedly, she hasn't really thought through the fact that Ms. Marvel showing up with the donation that her parents told Kamala Khan to take will work, but... that's why Ms. Marvel sometimes does her heroics on the down low!

Because she's just that selfless. Not 'cause she's afraid of the careful house of cards that is Having a Heroic Secret Identity collapsing or anything.

But there's something unusual as Kamala springs and leaps and stretches across rooftops towards the squat community center.

"It's quiet... _too_ quiet... oh... oh no, now if it's just normal quiet and something bad happens it's gonna be my faulllllt...!" But then she realizes that it's actually just Bad Stuff Going On quiet, as she realizes the streets are empty but there are a whole _bunch_ of clearly stressed people gathered outside the community center.

and with FINELY HONED heroic instinct, Kamala looks around, eyes alert for anything out of the ordinary...

"OHMYGOD... MUTANT PIGEON!" She hisses it out from her rooftop perch. Defintily loud enough for Garfield to hear from tens of feet away.

Also she's staring at him.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy is finishing clean up from the day's Crafternoon program when the first Skull shows up. At first, she doesn't notice. Or rather, she notices, because it's hard not to notice when a member of a notoriously violent gang shows up, but she thinks she's seen them before, with one of the kids that comes to the stuff earlier in the day. Younger, probably late elementary. Those kids are usually gone by now, but it's not unusual for a caretaker of some sort to be running late.

It is unusual that she's not seeing the kid, because she usually helps out with the younger ones.

Then the second Skull shows up and her gut drops. She ducks into a restroom before they start causing trouble, pulling her suit on under her street clothes and shooting a text to Ty that something might be going down at the center. They storm the building en masse as she's changing, and she can hear the noise, the panic. When she steps out of the small cubicle, she gets grabbed by strong arms, her bag snatched, and a knife gets placed against the collar of her shirt, teasing her throat.

Tandy stays still. Unresisting as they drag her towards other hostages. Quietly compliant.

For now.

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Ty was just ... looming ... when his phone made the Tandy-noises at him. Ah, a text. She was at the center helping out, probably needed a ride somewhere. But when he read the text she'd sent, he just sighed. Of _course_ someone was trying to do good for the kids of the streets, trying to help them make a life for themselves, and the street-creatures couldn't handle that. And they had to get violent, which was pretty much the only language they spoke fluently.

It only took a moment to embrace the Dark, to become Cloak as he opened the gate between dimensions. Stepping through, two steps later he was at the Holy Cross rec center, appearing from a darker-than-usual shadow a few steps behind Tandy. "I swear, you have a gift for finding all the fucked-up stuff in this city." he told his partner, but at least he smiled when he said it.

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    It's getting dark, which mean it's time to close the main gate to Hope House in Bushwick. Evan's tending to the place as it normal, so the gate closes, leaving an unlocked door through it for the mutants who have to go in and out at night. The only time the door gets locked is when there's trouble in Mutant Town...

    Which means it gets locked far too much for his taste.

    After that, it's back inside to help put away the leftover food from dinner. As always, an earbud connected to his police scanner is in one ear so that he can get as much warning as possible if Friends of Humanity or some other mutant hate group is stirring up trouble. Tonight things seem pretty quiet. A couple of the kids are playing on an old PS3 in the rec center, one or two of the older folks who don't want to sit alone in their rooms are scattered around on couches and chairs reading or watching TV. Evan lets himself relax a little as he cleans up in the kitchen, another day has passed without violence. Just about when he's ready to join the sit and relax crowd, he gets a signal from the scanner through his earbud - violence, but at least it's not in Mutant Town for a change. He resists for almost a full minute before he's headed back outside.

     Once there, he shrinks into the form of a peregrine falcon and flaps into the air. They're rare in the city, but a couple nests are seen each year on tall ledges and such, and more importantly, they're fast. At least once all the flapping is done and he can rise on the thermals the city creates. Once he hits a decent height, he starts a shallow dive in the direction of Holy Cross. By the time he's hitting streetlight level he's going about a hundred miles an hour, opening his wings and flaring up to dump speed before landing on the hood of a car. Another shift, and he's back to his normal form, sliding off the hood and approaching the crowd that's building up to watch what's going on.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
This is not Gotham, but New York is just across the bay.

This is not Gotham, but the city that never sleeps has problems all it's own.

This is not Gotham, but when ration dies even the shadows need to spread out of the corners where they haunt.

This might not be Gotham, but there's a call to arms.

Called to arms by the solidarity of so many families.

Called to arms to protect innocence.

Called to harms to face fear..

    With fear.

As the tensions grows and the fever rises, the omenous darkness spreads and that's where the Batman flourishes.

This might not be Gotham, but the Batman is here.

In those shadows.

Watching.

    Waiting.

        Ready.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
"Make sure they roll in no sirens," Luca tells Sara - it's probably a pointless direction, it's not like she's not experienced enough to know that. Still, he's being extra cautious. Then he does what often frustrates Sara about him, but also one of the things she might just love most. He takes off at a jogging pace to clear the block to the building rec. center. It's a good time to be thankful for the minimal windows in the building. At least he's not all that likely to be seen out there, in the open, begging to be shot. He halts his advance when Sam touches ground. Just loud enough to be heard by Falcon, he informs, "It's packed in there tonight, the kids were all pumped about this game and so were the parents."

Inside, parents and children alike huddle in small groups, for the most part. Some of them, on both sides, have experience with the gang life - fathers that left it behind, children of those fathers and children that have already been tempted more than once by the lure of 'family' in the lack of any real one at home. "What I /want/ is for you to shut your damned mouth," the Scorching Skulls leader retorts to Logan. He wags a finger in the direction of one teenage boy that isn't cowering so much with the rest. In fact, he looks downright defiant. "C'mere, Benji," he coaxes. "You know your old man died for this crew, this is where you belong, boy."

Father Clancy opens his mouth, perhaps when he should not. "Blister, you're not welcome here, leave the boy alone." Stubborn old man even takes a step forward and another and one more, before the shotgun wielding Skull bashes Clancy in the head with the non-business end of the shotgun. He goes down in heap.

Some of the younger kids there with parents, start bawling. Some of the older kids stand up almost as if to challenge the Skulls and a few more step closer to Blister - as if defeated enough to join the darkside.


Tyrone's sudden appearance catches the attention of one of the unarmed gangers. He spins toward where the shadows once were and demands, "The fuck did you come from?!" he demands. His hands are both extended, not in surrender - but as one might if they were going to wield those hands as a weapon.

No one inside seems any the wiser to those lurking on the rooftops.

Outside, one lone soul happens to notice a man where there was once a falcon. Quickly word spreads through the crowd that there are /two/ falcons here this evening - the heroes have come to save the day. Still, none dare raise their voices enough to potentially draw the ire of the Skulls. These people are terrified in their own neighborhood. Just a few blocks in the opposite direction from Luca, a small memorial has been set up in honor of the owner of a local store that was caught in the crossfire of this ongoing war.

Gar Logan has posed:
Oh, Gar thinks, that wasn't a ganger, it was one of the Crafternoon people in heavy leather gear. That'll show him for leaping to conclusions. The pigeon frowns a little bit and then hears some goings on in the building that reinforce the idea that, perhaps, people are needed here. The bird picks up on the riot of color that the sounds of fear and barely restrained anger cause, its feathers ruffle at the faint pressure of ozone manipulation. Some of these losers have powers? The bird's eyes narrow in a way a pigeon's cannot actually manage.

And then some kid starts shout-whispering about a mutant pigeon. Pointing right at him. Gar-pigeon tries to look more bird like, staring blankly into nowhere and pecking wildly at the ground. She's dressed like some kid's idea of what a superhero dresses like, and is holding a bag of. Is that laundry?

Images of this person being shot by the Skulls playing in Gar's mind, the bird finally moves its wing in a 'come up here' motion.

It waits a minute.

Finally it shifts into a crouching green furred monster man in white and purple, making the same motion with his clawed hand that he was with a wing a second ago. "Get up here!" Beast Boy whispers, "Before someone sees you! This place is full of guys!"

She probably doesn't get the context Gar. "Bad guys, to clarify!"

Sara Pezzini has posed:
As the first officer on scene, that would normally mean Sara would be the one in charge of the scene. It's not something any officer truly wants to do, but many are trained for just such an event.

She nods to Luca again, reminding the officers to roll in with sirens off, and pointing out the best locations for them to arrive. Yes, she knew, and it annoyed her, but it was his nature so she accepted it. Being part of the Avengers has afforded her some connections, and in this case she has access to the comm channels for several of the groups, including the Titans and the Bats.

< Police will be rolling in silent in under five minutes,> she announces over the comms, before tossing her helmet onto her bike and heading toward the rec center itself quietly.

"We need to get these people out of there as soon as possible, and as quietly as possible. Clear the street of civilians," she began to any hero type, including Luca and Sam when she caught up to where they were. < "The NYPD will follow the lead of the heroes, secure the perimeter, and stand ready to assist." > She then says over comms and to those near her.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan snorts. Not so much at the dismissal; that's fucking typical. But then the Priest gets clubbed, Cloak 'ports in, and they all prove that the tension level in the room can go ever higher. He doesn't really look like much of a superhero, at least at a glance. Worn denim, old leather boots, a short-sleeved, faded flannel shirt. There's a cowboy hat on his head, shading his glower; though it does nothing to diminish the /remarkable/ stature possessed by the runty mutant. "Seriously?!" It's indignant, derisive, half a roar as said runt cracks his neck and strides forward, intent on drawing all eyes to himself.

"You're gonna what, get a bunch of uninvolved kids killed tryin' to abduct the one that got away? That's a dipshit breakup, even givin' you a hell of a pass on account o' head trauma." Another step forward, a glance to the full limits of his peripheral vision to each side, as the Wolverine puts himself entirely out of crossfire vectors.

A deep inhalation of breath, a tensing of muscles. The Canucklehead's nostrils flare. "Let's you and me settle it, man to man. Hell, start with a pair of your best first. Just let everybody else walk outta here."

Kamala Khan has posed:
Kamala's eyes narrow. They also get larger. So they can narrow more. It's uncanny. It's downright unsettling, really. And not just because she's carrying a bag of donated clothing. In fact, that has almost nothing to do with it at all!

But it does mean she's got it to drop on the rooftop, as those embiggened eyes go wide when the pigeon does a little 'come here' wing crook. OHMYGOD! THIS IS AMAZING! ...Or... or it's some genetically engineered pigeon Vivian made.

But Vivian was very clear she's not about that 'Releasing experiments into the world' mad science life.

And so Ms. Marvel creeps forward towards the pigeon, even as she cranes her head to peer where he was just peering and... "Oh /dip/... bad guys! We gotta... like... do something, right? I mean, we've got the element surprise, because no one ever expects the pi-"

It's then that Gar's shifted, and Kamala glances back to him. "Oh! YOU'RE BEAST BOY!!!" She hisses it out sharply, eyes wide again. Ohsnapohdipohdang, he's like, a full on real deal hero! And movie star? Jeeze. Okay, fine, so he's got some cred. But her fanfics are probably better than his.

She springs up to crouch next to him and nods solemnly, "Bad guys. For sure." She pauses for a moment, "So like.... what do we do? I've never been like... /primary/ hero on the scene. Well, this one time I caught Juggernaut breaking into some kinda office building."

She heaves out a sigh, "He punched me through a wall. But like... these guys can't be that strong. So do we... do weeeee...."

Snort. Giggle. Wheeze. "Do we just... /wing it/?"

Her eyebrows do not pop up and down at her own joke.

Because Kamala Khan has great willpower.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
The only reason Tandy doesn't actually facepalm when Ty appears is because these idiots have twitchy fingers, and there are kids. Innocents. Adults actually trying to help them stay innocent just a little bit longer. She can't crack a joke either, because there's no point in wearing her suit to protect just to get bashed in the head for being a smartass. She sighs though, and rolls her eyes a little, shifting from side to side on her feet. This could go more poorly, but she would really, really like it if these assholes didn't start shooting in the middle of a gym full of kids.

And then short, scruffy, and jacked opens his mouth.

Tandy's eyes roll hard enough that she can feel the strain, but she keeps still. There's no way that Ty's appearance AND the mouthing off is going to be allowed to slide. She shifts her feet again, bending her knees ever so slightly. Ready to spring.

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Ty mentally winced. He'd screwed up the approach _again_ and the gangbangers were now threatening violence. They'd clubbed a Man of God, one of the good ones who tried to live as Jesus would have liked and spent his days helping people. Any people.

Even monsters like him.

Short, hairy, and jacked got ignored for now, as there was a ganger right up in his grill that wanted to throw hands.

Ty reached out with the Darkforce to pull the ganger closer, but not so that Ty could punch him.

Pulled him straight into a Darkforce portal, sending him into his Dark to become food.

Sam Wilson has posed:
As the situation took a turn for the worse, Falcon's expression tightened into a frown. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath, realizing this was precisely the night he had opted for a lighter load. He approached Sara and Luca with a quick, assessing glance, his mind already strategizing.

"I'll take to the air," he declared decisively, his voice tinged with urgency. "Keep an eye from above." With those instructions given, he spread his wings once more and launched into the sky with practiced grace.

Finding his aerial vantage point, Falcon activated Redwing, the drone swiftly navigating the perimeter of the gymnasium. It peered into windows and relayed real-time intel to Sam, pinpointing the positions of the Skulls with precision.

High above the scene, Falcon scanned the area with a sharp focus, his senses attuned to any signs of trouble. The night had taken an unexpected turn, but he was determined to safeguard those below and ensure the mission's success, even if it meant relying on unexpected allies and the technology at his disposal.

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Peering over the crowd that's gathering, Evan spots Detective Pezzini and heads in her direction. They've crossed paths a few times, usually after one of the mutant-hater attacks. She seems pretty okay to him, more caring than most of the cops who consider themselves 'stuck' in the Bushwick precinct. "Evening, Detective Pezzini." he offers before listening to her instructions and nodding. "I don't have a ton of experience entering or clearing buildings, so I'll work on keeping the people outside from making things worse or trying to go in there for a family member."

    Silent note to self: It's time you got some training in this sort of thing.

    He starts moving along the front of the crowd, keeping the sightseers back until the police can put up a proper perimeter. He also manages to intercept and gently usher a crying mother whose kid is inside over to one of the police cars arriving on scene so the cops can get her somewhere safe while they do their jobs. His usually sunny expression is nowhere to be found. He's really sick of all the violence, of all the innocents getting caught in the crossfire. Someone has to be able to deal with this crap. He blinks, looking down at the claws that have grown out of his fingertips and the glossy, metallic sheen of his skin. Ok, first time that's happened on it's own. He takes a calming breath and returns to a fairly normal young man instead of a mix of Colossus and Sabretooth.

    A young man who moves to cut off several tourists with cameras who want to 'take pictures of an actual New York crimescene' and herd them back into the crowd.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
IF this were Gotham, Batman would have crashed through the giant pane glass windows and used a combination of fear tactics and martial arts to, not just save these people, but embarrass the ones responsible. Profoundly embarrass them. 'Get a role-model' embarrass them. It's NOT Gotham and he is NOT primary. He hasn't yet made himself known, wherever he is.

To believe stories about him, he's probably crouched on a ledge somewhere watching through a set of occular enhancing technology built into his cowl. Draped in black, bathed in shadows.

Speculations abound, no doubt, what a Batman does and how a Batman functions when he's so very out of his element.

Only he's not out of his element.

Criminals are criminals no matter what city they come from. Some are more violent than others, but the end goal is always the same and the tactics used against them work unilaterally.

A combination of Justice League level technology and years of undercover work have given Batman an edge. Razor sharp. Standing amidst the gang now holding Holy Cross Recreation Center with a pistol down at his side, full arm tattoos, dark bags under his eyes, and hunched shoulders to give him a more brutish appearance.

Several days ago, the Skulls had come upon a biker by the name of 'Happy' in a dive bar just inside Hells Kitchen. Bloody knuckles, black eye... surrounded by unconscious thugs from one of their rivals. Just the kind of guy they're looking for in their power grab. Just the kind of opening Bruce needed to infultrate the Skulls to collect enough evidence on them that no Judge in New York City could over turn the convictions.

Soon as the target was set, the new guy was brought along to test his mettle, but things get spicy when innocent people are hit.

A big, tattooed covered, arm slides across his heavily stubbled jaw. Sharp blue eyes flicking side to side at the other Skulls to his right and left. "I'll fight'em." He calls out, stepping through his cohorts to stand in front of Logan.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
Just like he knew Sara knew - but instructed anyway, she probably knew he'd be on it and he was. His is a trusted face in the kitchen, he's been doing his own 'patrols' of the streets - checking in on people, sending more kids in Father Clancy's direction, just generally making his presence known since all the bloodshed started. "Go, get in side," his voice is soft, not barky, that's not what this situation needs, "They can't focus on getting everyone out of there if they have to worry about all of you too." It only takes him telling a few people for the word to spread as it did with the falcon business. Some of them are reluctant to go, but they do in the end - even if they're still peering out from doorways and windows.

"Who do you think you're talking to?!" Blister demands of Logan. "I'm not after one that got away, they all belong to me - to the Skulls. This is /our/ city you fuckin' twit." The tension in the room isn't just jacked-up, it's reaching critical mass. But Logan does manage to do one thing, almost all of the Skulls are focused on him - almost. There's still that one pesky one that can't get over someone that wasn't there being suddenly there. "Twitch and you die," it doesn't sound like a threat, it sounds like a promise. Electricity dances back and forth between his hands and crackles in his eyes. Dude should have been cast as Raiden. And then he's just /gone/ - swallowed up by darkness and attention is immediately off of Logan on on to what they believe is the biggest threat in the room. More kids are snatched up by Skulls, more guns pointed toward young heads, more threats of death if anyone twitches, particularly Tyrone. One of the Skulls pulls a teenage girl close, arm around her neck, gun to her temple and tells him, "I don't know what, or who, you are but if you want to be responsible for a new hole in her head, keep it up." His gaze flickers toward Tandy for just a beat and he purrs, "Good girl," praising her for knowing her place and sitting still.

The only one still facing off with Logan is Blister - what a lame name, right?

From the air, Sam will count no less than sixty people in total inside - but at least twenty of them seem to be Skulls. They're the ones standing upright, moving around, brandishing weapons. But the biggest piece of information he gathers from his vantage point is coming storm - another group parading down the street, maybe six blocks away. Reinforcements for the Skulls, or another faction looking to bust a few heads?

The mother being comforted by Evan is choked by her tears when she stammers, "My boy doesn't deserve this, he ain't never messed with the gangs, not once in his life. His father died for them and I swore I'd keep him out of that life. Please save my Benji."

Blister sizes up 'Happy' and then returns his attention to Logan. "Well, that's one way to earn your keep and your place," he snarls back at 'Happy'. "You better not lose."

Upon the realization that a brawl between the two men is likely imminent, the hostages press themselves closer to the walls.

Gar Logan has posed:
Garfield swallows a few facts very quickly.

First: it is getting BAD in there. At least one person's already using powers and there's a Klingon honor duel happening. Someone's going to get hurt soon.

Second, his backup is so nervous she's listening to mysterious mutant pigeons.

Three, she recognizes him.

Beast Boy winks at the girl, glad she is at least keeping quiet. "Sure am, uh." Beast Boy trails off. "Miss Fantastic?" A pause. "Plastic Lass." Another. "Elongated Maiden. Look, you do stretchy shapeshifty stuff right?"

"There's got to be cops coming by now which is gonna be bad for the hostages." Beast Boy says, chewing on a thumb as he thinks this over. "Some of those idiots have low rent powers, I can smell the ozone. We need a way out. I'm gonna shift into something with sharp enough claws to cut a hole in the glass of that window, and you stretch in and open the back door. Then we can sneak some of the hostages out while they're distracted with whatever the hell that is down there."

"Juggernaut, really?" Beast Boy says, impressed in spite of himself. Then there's a snap and he's a green bird of some kind, maybe a hawk?, flapping down to put its beak to the glass window and slice an opening inside of the mission.

Sara Pezzini has posed:
With officers beginning to arrive, Sara gives Luca one stern look, the 'be careful' look, before she moves to join them at the edges of the area. Taking command of the scene, she sends teams to the best outside locations around the rec center. Normally, the OIC would be trying to prove something against the heroes, getting the officers in trouble when they didn't need to be. Sara of course knew better.

With heroes present, the important work fell to them, and the NYPD would be ready to step in if needed and arrest the gangers who were captured.

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Between Luca and Evan, most of the crowd is dispersed, making the cops lives just a little bit easier. Evan still keeps an eye out, of course. You never know when someone who wants to be the next Batman is going to charge into a building full of gangers and get himself killed several times over.

    Which means that he's on the early side of spotting the gangers headed up the street towards the shelter. "Nope, not this time" he mutters under his breath. It only takes a moment before there's a new sight for the paparazzi - What would have to be termed a mech, looking suspiciously like the ED-209 from Robocop. Evan's amplified voice rings out down the street "I don't care if you're here to help the Skulls or fight them, you're not making this problem worse. Turn your asses around and leave before I have to make you leave. My way will be a lot more painful, so think really hard about it." Two arms that end in obvious guns are pointed in the direction of the extra gangers, starting to glow as they warm up to activation.

Sam Wilson has posed:
As Sam surveys the cityscape from his aerial vantage point, he relays crucial updates over the frequency, ensuring that anyone monitoring receives vital information. "Scanning shows approximately sixty individuals inside, a significant portion possibly affiliated with the Skulls, about twenty by estimation. However, our immediate concern is a large incoming group, advancing from the north, six blocks away. I'll identify their allegiance shortly. Redwing remains stationed for surveillance."

Accelerating swiftly towards the gathering, he streaks across the skyline, his thrusters propelling him with determined speed. He lands decisively in front of the mob, his presence commanding attention amidst the tension.

Turning to face the approaching mass, Sam hovers above them, projecting authority in every word. "Attention! Declare your intentions! Falcon of the Avengers speaking. I repeat, state your intentions clearly!" His voice resonates with the assurance of his rank. "Let's resolve this peacefully once your plans are made clear."

Despite a flicker of frustration visible in his expression, Sam refrains from arming himself, opting instead to maintain a stance geared towards de-escalation, still hopeful for a peaceful resolution.

Logan Howlett has posed:
"That's what you don't get, bub..." There's a grim resolve to the grizzled old bioweapon's icy take; like he's seen it all before. Too many times. For Logan, this is almost certainly entirely rooted in fact.

"You're already past the point of eatin' cake. Yer surrounded, infiltrated, outmatched... and down to one way out." When Cloak's darkside-- which is most of Cloak, to be honest-- eats, the ante is well and truly raised. "Pairs it is, then." Thing is, when Logan steps to 'Happy', it's like a rushing brook around a smoothly weathered, rocky bend. Three hundred pounds of Canadian fury is /launched/ in the blink of an eye in a masterful, honed counter; probably Aikido, for those keeping score.

For just a moment, the two men are-- well, not eye to eye, Bruce is tall-- but within whispered earshot considering Wolverine is, effectively, a canine in that regard. Whatever -that- was, Logan comes down beside Blister, and cold cocks the Skull in the side of his head. It's not just a punch, even without the tell-tale *SNIKT*-- it's like being clocked with a meat-wrapped tire iron, backed up by a corded arm thick as the trunks of some trees.

"Keep 'em coming!" The strike was probably enough to KO Blister-- if not crack the man's skull severely. Wolverine stomps a leg to splinters anyway as he bellows the challenge, and rights his hat atop his head.

Kamala Khan has posed:
With things inside rapidly deteriorating, Kamala manages to silence... or at least internalize her fangirling side.

Which probably doesn't give Gar much confidence when the crazy stretchy lass who was calling him a mutant pigeon sprints towards the edge of the roof, elastic powers being used to propel her forward with building speed as she cries out, "Ohjeeze! We gotta ge- ...MISS MARVEL! I'M MISS MARVEL! I'M KIND OF A BIG DEAL ON REDDIT!!"

Was that a triumphant battle cry? Or a kind of 'Oh my god, how am I still so unknown?' bemoaning? She's not sure herself.

But it's fine because she's already flying through the air towards that back door, reaching back to extend a confident, totally focused thumbs up towards Gar.

Could she also just unsettlingly puddle under the door and open it that way? Maybe. But maybe not. Some of those New York exterior doors have really good weather stripping for winter.

And so she reaches up through the hole in the window and clicks the lock open as she shrugs and stage whispers, "I mean, I don't think 'Getting punched through a wall by the Juggernaut' is that impressive... I didn't stop him from doing his robbery. Also, lots of people get punched by Juggernaut. It's kinda his thing."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
Tandy is still, but the hand against her neck is not. The only reason she's not a casualty - yet - is that the blade hasn't pressed deep or above the neck of her suit. It's close though, and the increasing twitchiness of her captor has her very, very still.

The gun that gets pressed into the head of one of her girls - the teens she looks out for, tries to talk away from the worst of the gang members to keep them safe - has her boiling with white-hot anger.

The problem with Tandy's anger? All that white-hot goes somewhere, and she starts to glow. The knife at her throat gets hot enough to singe a burn mark into the collar, and she swipes a leg, rolling the man over her back and tossing him onto the floor with a loud THUNK. She follows through, lunging after him as a light dagger forms in her hands. It gets stabbed into his gut, leaving him passed out on the floor as she stands back up.

A handful of daggers appear in each hand as she rests lightly on the balls of her feet, ready to throw.

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Tandy's free and ready to throw down, so Ty is there to back her up. He's keeping the lights on for now, as a stampede in the dark would be a really, really bad idea. He got rid of the guy who was most directly threatening him and he couldn't get any of the noncombatants out without potentially killing all of them. "Hey, Dagger." he said to his partner. "Want to let short and hairy throw down while we get the civvies out?" he asked her.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
There's a lot going on in a very short period of time because things are about to get out of hand. The tension is thick, there's an inky darkness spreading of the kind even Bruce isn't entirely comfortable playing in, and Logan is not exactly well known for his restraint. At least from what information Batman has on the old, grizzled, mutant. He is, by all accounts, an accomplished fighter. In the span of seconds, Wolverine launches himself at Bruce and, despite his weight, or specifically because of it, Batman opts for a counter using that weight 'against' his opponent.

Which, in this case, is not Logan.

Fists out, Bruce grips the big man's wrist in one hand and plants a hand in his armpit with the other. A shift around his back leg, tucking his hip, and he HURLS Logan up and over himself... and back towards the other Skulls. Blister to be precise.

In that shirt blip of time several things happen. Whisper distance for a canine earred mutant, "Same side." There's a tone a person takes when they're telling the truth, that honed ears can pick up on. "I'm Batman." He growls with the same 'barely a whisper' voice.

Even as he's stumbling away as if Logan had just clocked him in that quick tussle. Stumbling towards two other Skulls, who catch their mate. Bruce's knuckles come out quick, vipor strike right in the left ribs, lower lobe of the lung. Hard enough to break them... possibly puncture a lung... maybe. Bruce goes completely limp to use his considerable weight to drag the trio to the ground. One of them guppy breathing trying to catch his breast, the other yelping when Bruce's knee comes into his groin when they hit the ground.

Very much making it look like it was all situational, accidental even.

Because he's already up and rushing at Logan's back. Growling loud enough that everyone can hear it. Even if he's whispering, "Duck right."

Luca Bandoni has posed:
It's Evan that draws Luca's attention toward the approaching parade. His eyes narrow slightly in order to see through the fading light on the streets. "Fuck," he mumbles - barely audible even to himself. What he wouldn't give to have a direct line to Sam right about now. He already has the answer Falcon seeks. "It's the Crossroads Crew," then a little louder, "It's the Cross Roads Crew!" He redoubles his efforts of getting people inside - /all the way inside/. Windows and doorways have suddenly become lethal zones. What's already a bad situation is about to become a whole lot worse. One gang is bad enough. Add in a rival and it could easily turn into a bloodbath on the streets.

Evan's threat doesn't go unheeded, it's just that the response might be an unexpected one. A blast of energy, glowing bluish green, slams into Evan before he even has a chance to blink. It's a hit that would likely knock Logan off his feet - of course the little ball of badass would just get back up again. Question is, can /Evan/ withstand it? Some of the Crossroads bitches aren't stupid, some of the split off and run in opposite directions when an Avenger makes his presence known on the scene. The others, not quite so bright. Sam will find himself under a barrage of gunfire - at least he's halted their advance forward for the moment?

Blister listens to Logan's rambling and even lets out an overdramatic YAWN right before he's knocked into next week and sent sprawling across the room to not get back up again.

The room erupts into chaos. A few of Tandy's blades hit their mark, while others slam into walls simply because everything - everyone - is moving and changing direction so quickly.

Some of the Skull's newer recruits, just a few, drop to their knees with their hands behind their heads. Fuck that, not worth it! Kids scream and cower, parents shout and pull their kids closer, most of them begging everyone to just /stop/. The most notable occurrence is one that's not likely expected. Logan isn't the only one in the room with superpowered hearing. One of the Skulls yells, "It's BATMAN," right before shifting into a scruffy looking pitbullish mix mutt and running off toward the back door. Fuck that shit!

Benji, unnoticed amid the chaos, walks up to Blister and glares down at the man. He's a boy, standing on the precipice of becoming a man - how will his step into manhood begin if he acts upon the rage he's feeling inside? If he actually takes a human life, no matter if that life isn't worth the dogshit on the bottom of a shoe?

Beast Boy and Miss Marvel manage to get the door open just in time to come face to face with terrified hostages that - seizing on the chaos as opportunity - are running toward the back exit.

Getting the hostages out of harms way certainly isn't a bad idea. Bullets flying, people running, so much screaming - it's hard to tell if any of them have been inured or worse.

Somewhere amid it all, Father Clancy pushes himself to his feet, he's a tough old bird. "Go on then, Tandy, you two get these people to safety the best that you can." He barely gets the words out of his mouth before a bullet, meant for him or not, pierces his abdomen. He stares down at the bleeding wound before dropping to his knees.

Gar Logan has posed:
There's a pop and Garfield is a man (?) again, moving inside on the balls of his feet, hunched over. He sniffs the air and his weird little mouth quirks into a frown. "Captain Marvel doesn't have stretchy powers. That's weird. Hold the door open, please."

Beast Boy pops his head back out. "Wait what the hell is a reddit?"

Beast Boy takes Miss Marvel's hand and pulls it. "Can you do, like, a slide? I was thinking we can sneak the kids out silently using your powe-"

People are already there. Garfield leaps out of the way, "Miss Marvel, move!" Gar does his best Nightwing voice, feeling somewhat responsible for her. This is going bad, damn it. "So much for the peaceful way. Come on, we've got to get those gunmen down!"

This is when the Skulls in the main room will see what is unavoidably a huge green ram storm into the room, snorting steam as it lowers its head and charges directly at the shakiest looking gunman. "Don't fire into a crowd, guy!"

Sam Wilson has posed:
Sam's confidence wavers, realizing with about 80% certainty that Evan reaching for weapons would escalate the situation. His fears materialize as an electric blast surges towards the mutant. "Watch out!" he bellows, but the warning comes too late, the blast connecting with its target.

Immediately, Sam becomes a target himself, bullets whizzing in his direction. Swiftly dropping to the ground, his wings snap together with a resounding clang, forming a protective shield against the onslaught. The metallic wings reverberate with the impact of bullets as Sam swiftly readies his machine pistols, swiftly swapping lethal rounds for non-lethal ammunition.

Summoning Redwing into action, the drone responds swiftly to his command. "Smoke grenades!" Sam orders urgently, and Redwing complies instantly, launching canisters that burst in mid-air, billowing thick smoke over the Crossroads Crew.

Utilizing his enhanced connection with Redwing's sensors, Sam navigates the smoke-covered battlefield with precision. Through the drone's feed, he visually pinpoints the gang members amidst the haze, targeting them methodically with precise shots of rubber bullets, incapacitating but not lethally injuring them. Each shot is calculated, ensuring minimal harm while neutralizing the immediate threat.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"NO!"

Tandy's scream cuts across the general din, a mix of absolute rage and devastated anguish as she sprints towards Father Clancy, shirt ripped over her head and pressing into his wound with trembling, desperate hands. Her light's almost a supernova as it pulses around her, and she looks every inch the romantic image of one of Heaven's angels as she stays knelt at his side in an effort to staunch the flow of blood. He's a good man, and he's one of the few priests in the area she actually trusts because of how well he walks the walk. "It's gonna be okay, you're gonna be okay, Father C," she whispers. "Hold on, just hold on. Please." She pushes some of that light into him, a desperate gamble. If she can just slow the blood, even, do anything to help with these powers. Her eyes are blurry, face is - oh, it's tears, and she can't blink them back anymore. They drip freely, splashing into the blood on her hands as she continues to press. To pray.

To hope.

Logan Howlett has posed:
'Same side' is enough for Logan. Especially with the level of acumen this other guy's got; that much is clear in the momentary exchange of weight, of leverage, of abrupt momentum. The priority as the Wolverine breaks right is every son of a bitch with a weapon leveled on a hostage, any touchy idiot who's already pulling the trigger. He comes in behind one such target, aborting gunfire as adamantium razors penetrate the small of the ganger's back with a sharp *SNIKT*-- and rend his spine with a twist of Logan's wrist.

The feral little prototype makes a show of pulling that fist free, out the man's side, roaring like an unknown, spree killing cryptid on a full moon night; the better to draw gunfire to himself. Flannel is shredded by multiple such impacts, his hat a sad casualty as a round rebounds off the runty mutant's impossibly resilient cranium.

The next guy in line loses his weapon and most of the accompanying arm to the other set of severing claws. A shakier gunman who can't decide who to shoot? That kid is disarmed a little more gently by Logan; which is to say, there's no severance package as the adamantium retracts into his gore-drenched mits before he breaks that guy's arm.

"This who you are, kid?" It's Benji who catches the intense, sidelong glare. "Look around real careful, nice an' slow. Drink it in."

Tyrone Johnson has posed:
Tandy's helping the priest, which is good because there's sweet fuckall Ty can do to assist. But what he _can_ do is start to thin out the shooters. Streams of boiling darkness reached out from Cloak, looking to grab a hold of anyone with a gun and drag them into the Stygian void, likely never to return. No guns, safe from Cloak.

Opening fire? Lunch. Ideally.

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Evan isn't surprised to be attacked rather than listened to, though he was more expecting gunfire. As it is, the energy bolt hits metal and just disperses across the surface. "Right, my way then." The weapon arms come up and start discharging bolts of electricity into the oncoming gangers, their voltage and amplitude carefully adjusted to hurt and stun rather than kill. The street lights up as electricity arcs from the bolts to nearby cars, setting off a number of car alarms. Between him and Sam, pretty much everyone around knows there's a second front to this particular war.

    His stun bolts are doing a fairly good job on the Crossroads Crew, with about half of them down and twitching in the street. With Sam's less than lethal ammo taking more of them down once the smoke fills the street, the threat seems to be mostly neutralized. Still, he remains planted solidly in the street, scanning for any remaining gangers who are dumb enough to keep closing with the two heroes.

    One or two last rounds ping off his armor, but the shooters are mainly firing over their shoulders as they make a quick retreat, headed back to their part of the city. He's got no idea if their energy guy is down, hiding or running, but he remains ready to deal with anyone who comes out of the smokescreen.

Kamala Khan has posed:
Kamala moves in after Gar, all fists balled up, she (might maybe) do that goofy arm-cocking thing from a certain bathroom fight in a particular spy movie franchise.

Which is at least half as cringey as she feels when Gar doesn't know what reddit is. "It's uhh... it's... don't worry about it! Heroics t'do! C'mon, man! Focus up!"

Yes. Perfect recovery! Surely this real deal hero will forget she was a stammering goober up until things went all pear shaped.

But she's not got time for self-consciousness now, with guns out and things turning to chaos, Miss Marvel springs into action, in a somewhat literal sense as those elastic powers rocket her towards one of the armed gang members to deliver a knockout punch, only to stretch out and grapple another gang member and send him reeling in towards her for a headbutt!

Hell, she's so focused on trying not to mess things up? She doesn't even notice the Wolverine! Even though he's got his claws out and everything.

It's okay, hours from now when she snaps out of an adrenaline-spike induced exhaustion, she's gonna realize she kinda almost technically met Wolverine. And also that she really did meet Beast Boy. And he _teamed up with her_.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Logan breaks right and Bruce barrels right into his own gang. Choreography in a symphony of pain, or something. A meaty arm meant to catch Logan, instead comes across the larnyx of a Skull, knocking him right off his feet with that powerhouse of a lariat. All of his weight was thrown into it, sending both man over a table covered in donated kitchenware in a heapy.

Elbow striking across the closelined Skull's jaw, crack in a carefully tumble that has Bruce pushing back up to his feet wielding, of all things, a skillet. He bounds to his feet and swings the heavy cast iron cooking implement across the side of Skeezers face (Whatever, they all have pirate nicknames). Whatever half assed attempt to make Happy get his shit together is drown out with shattered teeth and a broken jaw.

The Skillet whirls across the room and connects with another Skull, pointing a gun towards some of the fleeing hostages, just when Father Clancy takes a bullet in the abdomen. His brow furrows... Chaos all around him. Screaming, gunfire. When he moves now it's with deliberate purpose.

The ruse is up, as they say.

Happy! We- Bruce grabs the Skull by the back of his and shoves to the right, slamming the mans face against the wall in the same instance that he kicks him in the knee. For a second, the young new recruit is horizontal in the air and then he's unconscious on the ground. Bruce steps over him, turns, grabs a Skull rushing past him by his ponytail and jerks him backwards over the knee his slams into the young mans back.

Ultimately, kneeling beside Tandy beside the Father. "Abdomen wound." His voice is cold, but not unempathetic. It definitely doesn't belong to a biker. Neither does the incredibly high tech phone he pulls from his back pocket, which slides upwards into a keypad. "We'll take him to my car."

Outside.... the Batmobile roars as the engines come online. Drawn to the GPS tracker, the powerful, matte black, muscle car rockets through the streets towards the Recreation Center. It cuts corners and skids to a halt in full view of the people outside. of the Crew coming up the street.

Blue eyes go down to the Father, then over to Tandy. "Roll him, I need to see if there's an exit wound."

Luca Bandoni has posed:
A firefighter doesn't become a firefighter because they're /afraid/ of danger, Luca is no exception. Saving lives is his calling, so much the better that he can also be a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Once he's sure all the onlookers are no longer onlooking from dangerous positions, he starts for the building - he's not a superhero, the best he's got are some minor healing abilities and a little boosted speed when needed, but he'll be damned if he's going to stand on the sidelines when people inside could be hurt or even dying. He's the type that runs toward the fire, even when it's gunfire.

It's just luck that he manages to make it through the door unscathed and some may see it as divine intervention when the first victim he sees is Father Clancy - he skids to his knees beside the old Priest and Tandy. He doesn't question what she's doing - it's not difficult for him to figure it out considering, "Let me help," he murmurs softly. The only outward sign of his bioenergy combining with her light is the softest of glows from his blue eyes. He doesn't speak when Batman approaches, he just shakes his head - to speak would break his concentration.

The Crossroads Crew retreats, dragging along the fallen among them the best they can until it becomes clear that leaving them behind is the best option. No one can stand against the Falcon and the mech that was the second falcon to s how on the scene.

Inside, between Ty's darkness, the giant green ram, Kamala's ever so valiant efforts at being a hero, Logan's viciousness and the earlier announcement that /Batman/ was in the room, those still standing amid the Skulls drop to the ground, fingers laced behind their heads in surrender.

Given all of it, everything that's happened, the weight of all the bloodshed, fear and anger still floating in the air - the most important interaction of all takes place.

Tonight was the beginning of the war for the soul of Hell's Kitchen - but it's also the battle for the soul of one single boy. It's a matter of opinion as to which is more important. Once close enough to Benji, Logan will see that the boy's holding a gun, one likely taken from Blister in the first place. He looks down at it now, then back up to Logan. His intense brown eyes well with tears he's struggling to keep from falling. The tears war with the anger etched into his features. Which path will he choose? He spares a moment to look at the bloodshed around him, to listen to the screams of those that have made it outside, to watch Tandy and Luca trying so desperately to save Father Clancy's life and then... back to Logan. He drops the gun as if were made of molten lava and does the most unthinkable of things. Benji steps forward and wraps his arms around the feral 'beast' known as Wolverine and just cries.

As police and rescue squads finally roll into the immediate area, there's a deafening silence that always follows the chaos of battle. Luca and Tandy are pushed aside as paramedics take over the care of their patient. He'll live to stand as a beacon of hope to the youth of Hell's kitchen thanks to their efforts. The Scorched Skulls' numbers are decimated, one chess piece in the war for Hell's Kitchen off the board until another steps in to fill the void.

The battle was hard fought, but the civilians were rescued with only minor injuries, the Skulls are no more and the heroes sent a loud and clear message.

Stay out of the Kitchen if you cant take the heat.

Evan Sabahnur has posed:
    Once it's clear that the Crossroads Crew was out of the fight, the ten foot tall mech shrinks back to Evan. As car alarms blare around him, he mutters to himself "Gotta remember better containment." He turns and walks back over to the police cars and helps unite upset parents with their kids, clears the way for paramedics to move freely in and out of the building, and just generally makes himself useful until things wind down. Once they do, it's into the air and back to Bushwick where his bed is calling to him.

    Tomorrow's another challenge, though what kind remains to be seen.

Gar Logan has posed:
Beast Boy shifts back to human form. Someone lobbed off somebody's arm and there's a spine sitting in the middle of the church. There is an urge to shove that gore out of the way, before poor Miss Marvel comes out of it, but Garfield resists the urge.

Instead the part-human holds his hands up in front of what is almost certainly Wolverine. "We good?" Beast Boy isn't thrilled by all the killing tonight but isn't going to do much more than try to deescelate unless Logan really doesn't know friend from foe right now. "Man please don't make me get my ass kicked by you."

Gar does a double take. "Oh thank God Batman." Beast Boy can smell the Batmobile's tires outside, no wonder the gang broke up. "I thought I was going to have to be the adult in the room you have no idea dude."

Tandy Bowen has posed:
"Thank you." The Light surrounding Tandy winks out of existence as she and Luca are pushed to the side, and she sags into the leg of the man standing next to her. Exhausted, angry, worried. Overwhelmed. Without the nimbus around her, it's easy to realize that she can't be that much older than some of the kids milling near the edges of the center, looking for their loved ones or just trying to stay out of the way until they can slip safely into the night. Her clothes are pretty much ruined. Her suit has streaks of blood on it, already turning a rust color. She'll have to work an extra shift to replace the first, but the second will wash. Her hands will wash.

The time it will take for the tacky feel of Father Clancy's blood to stop featuring prominently in her nightmares, the fear on the faces of the kids they try so hard to protect? That's a much, much longer road.

Warm arms encircle her. A familiar scent, warm lips at her temple. Home. Comfort. Safety. There's a faint glow, then darkness, and the spot where Tandy was kneeling is empty save for a few streaks of blood.

Logan Howlett has posed:
Logan's berserker rage is a thing to be feared, to be sure. Gar's animal instincts serve him well, the danger is real; but the Wolverine is very, very good at this act, as well. That's what's happening here: the man may be a stealth assassin of the highest order, a man who could compete with the Batman at the Predator levels, he also heals exponential tiers faster than most anyone else, and his skeleton is laced with unbreakable armor, to boot. If these idiots are going to start lashing out at heroes, hostages, and preachers alike, well... it behooves the ol' Canucklehead to draw just as much fire as he can.

So it is that Beast Boy gets a remarkably level, calmly steadfast nod as the fire in the runt's oceanic gaze dwindles to sad embers, and he turns just as steadily to readily embrace the prime target of all this bullshit; kid's only started to feel the weight of it, and it's a lot.

"Yea kid; good call. We got this. You got this." His hand at this kind of trauma is probably a lot more elegant than his training as a military medic. That, and his shoulders are /very/ sturdy. Meanwhile, Batman and Dagger have /much/ better bedside manner, atop the medical knowledge involved; yes, even Batman.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Someone's stepping in to take over duties with Father Clancy and that's all well. Bruce has no intensions of sticking around anyways. Too many questions, too little interest in answering any of them. Soon as the firefighters and paramedics appear on the scene, the brutish biker leaves it. Without a word, the suddenly silent figure slips into the chaos. While this had been a stealth op, it had gone pearshaped. Not his best work, but a lot of the variables at play were unknowns to him.

WERE

There's no cape and no cowl as he exits the building amidst the other hostages. Another unfortunate being ushered towards ambulances once they arrive on scene... any sign that he'd been part of the 'Skulls' is shed before he ever steps foot outside. His hair is a mess, there's a semblance of terror on his face, even if it's not in his eyes, as he's checked over. A cut on his forearm.. Bruce looks down at the laceration with a furrowed brow, then at all the families being seen to around him.

The EMT who had been looking to his wounds turns his back for a moment and it's all Bruce needs to slip away. When he turns back up from his medical bag, he finds the man he'd been treating, is gone. The hatch on the roof of the Batmobile sliding back into place with Batman seated behind the wheel. All the footage he'd collected, information on the Skulls, is transferred to the NYPD through a Justice League connection right from the batmobile. The matte black vehicle sits unmoving with blacked out windows, waiting, but the Batman never appears.

His presence, even if ostencibly through the presence of the batmobile, should be enough.

Kamala Khan has posed:
Kamala hasn't got berserker rage on her side, or cool animal shifty powers, or awesome billionaire ninja skills.

But she does her best to deliver some good blows and then looks around to see how, you know things are going.

And for a moment, Kamala's torn between shock of 'OMG! THAT'S WOLVERINE!' and, you know, th e tragedy and drama and sheer human pain surrounding her.

Which is to say, fangirl gonna fangirl, but like... there's a /time/ to ask for autographs.

Plus, Vivian probably knows him. That girls knows /erryone/.

And... oh snap! THE CLOTHES!!

The mighty Ms. Marvel babbles out something that might be a vague 'Way to go bud!' encouragement at Gar, or maybe it's a 'Thanks for helping me out, gotta go!'

It's really just a bunch of nonsense sound before Ms. Marvel is rushing out the back door... and reminding herself to drop off some money to pay for the window later.

Right now? She's gotta get up on that rooftop before someone steals those clothes!

...She'll drop them off for donation tomorrow.

Things are a /little/... hectic right now after all.