19438/Streets of Rage - Darkstalkers

Streets of Rage - Darkstalkers
Date of Scene:	17 November 2024
Location:	Bronx
Synopsis:	Another fight on the busy streets as heroes once more try to separate out feuding clans of assassins as the fighting never seems to end.
Cast of Characters:	Mary Jane Watson, Hunter Rose, Divine, Barbara Gordon, Cinque Evers

---

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
It's a bright day. Breezy. Crisp. A light wind soothes it. But the streets themselves do not reflect this as they're caught up in a sea of chaos, brutality, and blood. Dozens of red-clad warriors wielding blades and scythes seem to almost teleport around through the bright light, moving from rooftop to ground in streaks of lightning.
    Along the ground, they face off with cybernetically enhanced warriors meeting magic and speed with metal and alien technology, force fields flickering into existence with each received strike.
    And through the melee also go more infamous faces seeming to casually slaughter their way through them.

Hunter Rose has posed:
Grendel crouches low on the rooftop, a still shadow against the chaos erupting below and the bright sun above. His mask's painted eyes scan the scene-a storm of speed, technology, and blood where combatants flash between rooftops and ground in streaks of motion. He doesn't need to look long to understand the patterns. Grendel isn't here to be part of the chaos, he's here to control it.

The electro-fork rests comfortably in his hand, its prongs still stained from those foolish enough to cross his path earlier. His movements are deliberate as he inches along the ledge, a predator measuring the field. The melee is fierce, but none of the combatants below have the clarity he does. While others move with fury or desperation, Grendel embodies calm precision, waiting for his perfect opening to carve his way into the fray.

Even amidst the chaos, there's an artistry to his approach. This isn't just a job for him, it's a performance. And as he descends, it isn't a flurry of reckless violence-it is swift, surgical, and unforgettable. An audition for the League of Assassins.

A pattern recognized in the behaviors of the red-clad warriors, one seems to almost teleport upon Grendel's spear. Quickly unsheathed from the chest of his opponent, the spear is thrown into the skull of another. Following the trajectory, a foot is placed upon the crown of the ninja, the spear retrieved in time to parry an incoming blade. A flurry of martial maneuvers follow, the clang of metal on metal, that culminates in a smell of ozone as Grendel's opponent is electrocuted.

Divine has posed:
Divine is coming off a shift at work, navigating the streets of the Bronx as she contemplates getting dinner before heading home for the evening. It's quiet at first - strange, but with it well after dark by the time she's leaving the zoo it's getting more common for the streets to be a little quieter. It's near dinnertime too, so not unexpected.

The farther from the zoo she gets, the more eerie the quiet becomes until her enhanced ears pick up the sounds of battle. Not the scuffle of fist fights or even the cracks of gunshot one would expect, but metal and... something. Not quite the thunk or clang of meeting a shield, but still something obviously blocking some of the metallic swipes. She launches into the air with a thought, eyes narrowing in until she can see the action. It seems that the civilians that could have gotten out of the way of harm, but not all of them are free. That... that might be a her problem. She swoops down and grabs a woman and child stuck cowering behind a car, grunting as she gets a shriek of terror in her ear and a solid kick against her knee for her troubles. Divine swears and swerves to the left, but doesn't lose her grip on either one. "Which way?" It's a terse question, but as the woman stammers out a reply - a nearby train station, smart of her - Divine zooms off, getting the two out of the fray and setting them down at the entrance to the station. "Give NYPD a call when you're near a phone," she says tersely, then raises her voice, letting folks know there's some sort of gang brawl a few blocks south of them. She gives the street name she'd glimpsed, advises them to avoid the area, then launches back into the air, vision zooming back in on the fight as soon as she's high enough to see it.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Batgirl technically had not come here to engage in the fight. She had heard something was going to go down here today, and had come to see what it might turn out to be like. She had driven a black motorcycle from Gotham City, with a set of black attire worn on her body. She'd found an empty alley to drive her cycle in to, where she'd parked it at the mouth of. With both booted feet on the ground, on either sides of her bike, Batgirl stared out of her glossy black motorcycle, the visor still down, as inside the helmet, she was given an augmented reality display of the world around her.

In the sky above, she had a small flock of bat-drones flying, and surveilling the situation that was unfolding, and through the drones, she could see a number of live feeds of the situation from an aerial vantage point. Babs, seated upon her bike, issued commands to the drones, via a wrist mounted computer on her left forearm, as she was wearing a variant of her Batgirl attire, one lacking a bit of the dramatic flare for what she normally wears in Gotham. Lightly armored, the Gotham Batgirl was biding her time, and observing the ruckuss, a backpack worn on her shoulders, with her fiery red hair poking out of the bottom of her bike helmet, braided in a tight French braid style.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
In this fight for Batgirl there will be familiar figures. A dark skinned asian woman wearing a simple cotton gi fighting her way through enemies so smoothly it was like she knew how they were going to attack before they even did it. Each blow she sent towards a target so precise, so brutal, each struck was a kill. One of those heavy cyborgs forged of alien technology would go to meet her. She would dodge the first strike of it, flip past the vibro-sword it would scythe at her, and take her hand up to snap the inside of it's palm to the side as it would try to punch her. Her retaliatory fist hit the force field, shattering it. Her followup kick cracked the front of it's armor. A final palm strike went through the center of the Foot Soldier's body and split out the other end, fist snapping back so quickly as to almost be untouched by blood.
    Going to flank her would be another warrior wearing thick martial arts leggings.. And a tiger mask upon his face. A fist snapping out to catch a spinning blade swung by one of the Foot towards him, stopping it in midair, punching and then shattering the blade down the middle, then his followup kick splitting the man's spine.
    Divine is face to face with a freakish looking man that of all things seems to be chewing on a small toothpick, another pair in his hands. He was wearing a trenchcoat, with a brand on his forehead of a small dot within a circle. "So, Toots, what's someone like you doing somewhere like here? Thought you Metropolis types didn't like getting your hands dirty with this lesses riff-raff." He would taunt her, flipping another toothpick to his hand.
    Two Hand soldiers would go to attack her from each side - but there was something -off- about them if she was trying to visualize them with her enhanced senses. Disorienting, like picking up living static. Charging towards her with two heavy blades.

Hunter Rose has posed:
Grendel, his immediate melee finished, he picks up his spear and sprints alone the roof-line. The figures of Lady Shiva and Bronze Tiger are recognized as they were identified as priority VIPs on the side of his current employer. Stopping, he crouches and observes for a moment. Keen mind analyzing their patterns and fighting styles, at least the ones they currently present, he imagines a place for himself in the formation.

Leaping from the roof-top, he catches the edge of a fire escape with a free hand to slow his fall. Released, he falls upon an awning and then uses it to slide to street level. His spear is spun to gather momentum, legs kicking up to twist his body into a somersault. The rotational momentum is applied to the force of his next blow, the spear crackling with electricity smashing the armored cranium of a foot clan ninja.

The instincts of seasoned warriors take over. He falls into concert with Shiva and Tiger. Was he their equal? Casual inspection couldn't discern, but one might noticed the masked man picking up a few tricks from the two masters. Shiva's parry is mimicked and is Tiger's punch. It also becomes clear the codified techniques of the foot clan slowly become their undoing as each trick becomes familiar to Grendel. This familiarity bearing ruthless efficiency for the assassin as he counters and paves a path of blood with the two league members.

Divine has posed:
Divine's hands end up on her hips as she faces the man in the trenchcoat. Ugh, Bullseye. She's heard of the guy, but she doesn't usually involve herself in what regular criminals are doing unless it's something like tonight where she stumbles into the fight instead of looking for it. "Looking for dinner," she replies dryly. "I wouldn't have bothered stopping if there weren't civilians in the mix," she continues honestly, though she sounds annoyed. "Two gangs want to slice themselves apart? Not my problem. Harassing other people when I'm right here? Becomes my problem."

The distortion at the edges of her vision has her tense. She can tell there are people, but she can't quite get a bead on their exact placement or weaponry. Obnoxious. She darts into the air once she judges what she can - blurry, large, fast - a high leap that sees her going over Bullseye and coming down on the other side. With luck, they'll crash into one another.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
For Batgirl, this was about surveilance, recon, and information gathering. She certainly did not want innocents to get caught up in the middle of some cyber gang war, but she was tracking elements of a specific nature, and that specification involved the trafficking of alien weaponry.

Lady Shiva was here, and the lesser (to her) known Tiger. "Interesting." Babs muttered inside of her black motorcycle helmet, as she shifted her weight on her bike's seat, and put the kickstand down. She stood up, dismounting the bike, and throwing her leg over the vehicle's surface. She glanced behind her down the alley, before looking forward again. Her eyes went back to her internal camera, as she saw this unknown element in Grendel make his appearance. Who was he? Babs didn't know, and that was interesting even further to her.

She pulled her backpack from her shoulders, and unzipped the black leather bike jacket she wore over her armored upper body. The jacket was left over the bike, the backpack hung on its left hand grip. Her hands went to her bike helmet, and gently raised it up, disconnected it from the Bat-cowl and mask that covered her face within, the distinctly note-worthy tips of pointed bat ears standing up from the much smaller helmet that she had been wearing inside of the larger one.

Batgirl's cape unfurled behind her shoulders, as her free hand detached a grapple gun from her belt, and within seconds, she was gone... up in to the sky, scaling the side of one of the buildings of the alley.

Cinque Evers has posed:
Through his contacts on the street, Cinque had caught word of something brewing in the Bronx.. The whispers were vague but urgent, and they left little doubt that the situation required his attention. The Bronx wasn?t just another borough; it was Cinque?s home, and where he served those that were down on at the Jamii Shelter.

When some his workers were ushering people inside the Shelter to keep them safe, Cinque, quietly slipped into the Jamii Shelter, his footsteps purposeful but quiet. The shelter?s basement held a secret bomb shelter, hidden behind a heavy steel door disguised as a utility panel. Inside, the world of Cinque faded away, replaced by the guise of Oletha Ukufa

Minutes later, he roared onto the streets astride his motorcycle, the engine?s growl a muted warning of his approach. As he approaches the scene, he is already analyzing the environment, taking all the information. He quickly recognizes that these are some of the same fighters that he witnessing fighting previously. He launches his grappling hook to one of the roofs to get a better view of the entire battle.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The two attackers on Divine seem to almost phase right -through- one another as they would land cleanly in sommersaults. Bullseye then goes to take out his toothpicks and flick them towards her. Each would be sent through the air - bouncing off a brick wall, ricocheting off a fire escape, bouncing off the fan on a rooftop, another off a small chimney, each toothpick intended to strike her right in the middle of her pupils! Of course, that wa spresuming they actually hit, and even then it probably wouldn't hurt at all. Her eyes could probably take bullets after all.

As Grendel goes to charge one member of the Foot, the individual goes to give him a twisted looking bow and a flourish. Wearing an armored robe with a long blade; glowing and shimmering, a vibrosword. The type that could shatter most weapons the way an ordinary blade could cut through flesh cleanly. He goes to an en garde stance, as if taunting Grendel to attack.. Then moving to if not charged or if the motion of respect was returned, to take that micro-second of an opening to almost teleport in midair behind Hunter, intent on trying to skewer him through the middle of the back!

Shiva no doubt is aware that one of the Bats has shown up, as has Bronze Tiger. Based purely upon reputation. Always best to presume a skilled enemy was aware of things, even if they weren't responding. For now, her presence wasn't interfering with the combat. Barbara would get a good bats-eye view of the melee going everywhere as dozens of opponents fought one another in a mix of greys and gore.

Cinque likewise can make out everything that's going on. Even as he goes to launch himself up and over into the air, he would see two figures just watching. One wearing a lighter armor of the reputed Lord of the Foot, a more angular, compact one with a red bandana tied around the armored helm. The other a heavily muscled man at her side that had a large, twisting dragon tatoo along his back. The Lady of the Foot would just watch the battle, assessing it. Seemingly not caring for how many of her confederates were dying while she watched.

Hunter Rose has posed:
Grendel inverts his spear and performs the mutual bow of respect toward the armored Foot clan warrior, the spear aligned in parallel to his body. In truth, it's an act of cunning, the assassin anticipating some kind of trick from his adversary. The teleportation trick had already been applied too many times in the melee, and conveniently, his electro-fork is already aimed at his opponent. Of all the techniques in Grendel's arsenal, the thrust is the most familiar to him.

Thus the assassin rolls forward to avoid being skewered himself and pivots turning the roll. Foot planting against concrete, he pushes off the ground to drive the spear toward the attacker with lightning alacrity, a field of electricity crackling around the weapon. Unfortunate for his opponent, even a near miss will no doubt involve the electrical charge coursing across armored plates causing involuntary spasms of the muscles or perhaps even electronics beneath, and if such an opening presents itself, the butt of the spear will strike the skull before the spear is rotating around Grendel's waist to provide spacing for another thrust.

Divine has posed:
Divine takes one toothpick to the eye and swears, turning and catching the other in her forearm. Gross gross, those were in that guy's MOUTH. She pushes herself higher into the air with a flex of her feet, plucking the toothpick out and blinking furiously as her eye heals, itchy and blurred with tears that had tried to flush the irritant out. A few moments and her vision is clear enough to swoop back down, hands reaching to shove Bullseye forward with enough force to make him lose his breath... and maybe get in the path of one of the bladed, blurring weapon-wielders in the midst of the chaos. On its own, the blow isn't enough to kill him but will likely leave a nasty bruise behind.

The second toothpick is also plucked out of her skin, and both find a home in her back pocket. If she drops them, that's just giving the man a set of weapons back, and well... some of her blood is on those. She's well-aware of what some people can do with just a few drops of blood. No, smarter to dispose of them herself.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
It just so happened that the roof that Cinque utilized his grapple hook to scale, was the same roof that Batgirl stood atop, close to its edge to view the conflict unfolding below. She backed up, when she saw the hook make its contact, and saw the man cresting over the top of where it was secured. She did not shield herself from sight, as the sun was still up, and there was little place for her to go, thusly, Cinque gets a potentially surprising view of a Gotham Bat, clad in a suit of all black, with a flowing cape, and a braided pony tail of fire red hair trailing down one shoulder. She stared at him, a measured look of green eyes behind a half mask that covered the upper part of her face. She stood motionlessly, with her hands at her sides, hidden by her cape that gently moved within the winds coming over the building.

Above, the whizzing of Bat-drones zipped past, collecting more information of the battle, while the Batgirl herself, was merely an observer up to this point.

Cinque Evers has posed:
Cinque eyes widen beneath the mask when he realizes that he is not alone on the roof, and the other person is Batgirl. "You are bit away from your normal stomping grounds, or you not?" Cinque quickly explains, "I am friend, not foe, but not very nice to those that picked heavy populated places to settle their disputes.

Cinque?s turns his sharp gaze to the scene below, remembering that there is no reasoning with this group. He felt a cold detachment settle over him, his emotions receding behind the precision of his combat mind.

"If they wish to see who will reign at the end of these last days," he mused darkly to himself, "then perhaps it is best to show them what awaits them in the hereafter."

His hands moved with mechanical efficiency, drawing his modified Navy Colt revolvers from their holsters. Their matte black finish reflected none of the dim city light, and they felt reassuringly solid in his grip. With a smooth press of a button, he whispered, "Incendiary."

A soft, high-pitched whir emanated from the pistols as their chambers shifted, slotting in specialized incendiary rounds. Cinque?s cold calculation continued unabated, his mind already predicting the arc of the battle. Five targets, he decided

Cinque took a breath, steadying his aim. His perception slowed the world around him, and every detail came into focus: the subtle shifts in the ninjas' stances, the glint of their weapons under the faint streetlights, the rhythm of their movements. He fires.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Karai, Second of the Foot, would watch the melee, and the Bat that was going towards it, watching or not. "I don't particularly care for voyeurs." She would muse over to herself while hardening her metal mask. "Hun, join them on the ground. Ignore the Kryptonian. Ready the Enforcers." This was spoken in quiet Japanese that Barbara's comms could pickup and Cinque as well being close enough.

Karai would go to hold her fist high, a series of small blades appearing in it. Then the blades would be flung through the air, arcing and hurled to try and rend through several of Barbara's drones as Karai would speak. "Leave. Now. Unless you wish to become one of the bodies." Hand on her katana, ready to see if Barbara withdrew or went to attack her.

Hun would grunt at Karai, "Gladly." Going to leap off the side of the skyscraper a solid ten or so stories up, landing hard on the back of a member of the League and cracking it like an eggshell, then going to charge Bronze Tiger as the two would meet in a -very- brutal fashion.

Grendel's opponent's quick slash is countered over by the electricity coursing through him. It's painful and for an ordinary person might lead to seizures, but for the cybernetically enhanced grafts, it's tilted merely towards agonizing and not crippling. Muscles spasm, alien electronics would manage to hold themselves together.. They must be made of sterner circuits.

He goes to slash once more with hsi blade, intent on trying to catch the spear to deflect it, intent on trying to slash through it. Having both hands on the weapons for firmer control now.

Bullseye is fast and dangerous, but to Divine he's still just a man, and she's a (half) Kryptonian as she goes to charge him and fingerflicks him and leaves him reeling back. He staggers, even as the two bladed attackers crash into him, each recovering over in a pail of smoke some distance away as Divine goes to confirm to the Batman of another world that yes, she did bleed, he didn't need to go into about how he said if not then she would. That man in some universes had some major complexes..
    Cinque's targets drop hard - now he has their attention. Turning to face him now is an elderly looking man that's wearing a suit and tie. Both seeming to be freshly pressed, despite the battle that he had been participating in. He would go to smoothly straighten the tie, and go to a defensive stance. "They used to say that it was a fool that brought a knife to a battle and someone brought a gun instead. It always seemed such a waste." Even as the incendinaries had picked off others in his general area.

Hunter Rose has posed:
Grendel seems to recognize the intention of the vibro-sword wielder and the electro-fork is used to kite and exaggerate the swings of the ninja to create openings. One such opening is exploited with a thrust kick to an elbow intending to either break or at least jam the joint. Pushing off the cybernetically enhanced ninja, Grendel sails in a backwards flip that results in him landing beside the vibro-sword of a previously fallen.

The futuristic weapon is picked up and Grendel assumes what appears to be a traditional fencer's stance. He re-engages in melee with the cyborg, his thrusts swift and precise. What he lacks in cybernetic augmentation, he makes up with efficiency and improvisation. A slash is perfectly parried, the blade swirled and raked across a forearm. Another slash parried, a bicep is lightly scoured.

Grendel's approach then becomes clear. A ruthless dismantling of the cyborg. No openings offered. No risks taken just a meticulous exploitation of any slight flaw in the ninja's form. Worse for the opponent, the mutant's ability to read and counter improves by the second. The longer Grendel can draw out the contest, the narrower the window of victory for the ninja.

Divine has posed:
She goes after the obviously enhanced - computers, something, they're not ADAM units but they are ruthless - though since they are still somewhat humanoid, not all machine she doesn't go directly for killing. She could, they're obviously lethal enough, but her mind is on disarming and dismantling, more to keep the few remaining civilians alive than to stop the two groups from killing one another. As she told Bullseye - criminals going after each other? That's just trash taking itself to the dumpster, in her mind.

Divine does realize the irony that once she might've been lumped into the concept herself. Life is funny like that.

She's careful to temper her strength somewhat as she wades into the fight, even though it means she takes more hits than she might otherwise. It's fine. She heals. Weapons are snatched where she can, half-Kryptonian strength bending and breaking before tossing off to the side, skittering across the ground through the melee like a skipping stone. For damage, she starts going for legs and knees, or where she gets the chance, elbows and shoulders. Dislocation hurts like hell, even if it doesn't generally keep someone in traction long term.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Cinque's arrival on the rooftop, had Batgirl's attention. She watched him settle in to his place, and heard his words. His guns were drawn, and she took a single step toward him. "My research has told me that some members of the Foot Ninja Clan are just teenagers. Lost children. If you fire on them... you're harming misguided kids, possibly killing them." She warned him, her voice modulated in a subtley demonic fashion, though the sudden alert status of one of her drones drew her attention back to the fight fully.

Karia's commands, resulted in one of the Bat-drones being clipped by enemy fire. It fell from the sky, and crashed with a resounding thud against hard pavement amongst the battle, before it burst in a ball of electrical energy, and a cloud of rapidly blossoming smoke that spread out in all directions around its crash site.

The other five drones reacted by opening fire with defensive measures. Tear gas, smoke pellets, and electrical bursting stun darts, sizzled from the under carriages of the Bat-drones, and peppered the battle field down below, with specific fire solutions aimed at those that took down one of their numbers. The drones spread out, unleashing that barrage of cover, as they dispersed to wider angles, and higher altitudes.

Batgirl, on the edge of the rooftop, watched Karai from afar, before she raised her chin, and dashed over the edge of the building, dropping down in to the alley, possibly sending the woman a silent invitation to come and find her, if she so wished, or a threat that Batgirl was coming to find her.

Cinque Evers has posed:
As Cinque continues to scanned the battlefield from his vantage point, he didn?t need to turn his head to further talk to Batgirl had arrived. Without looking, he spoke over his shoulder, his tone flat but edged with disdain.

"If they?re here, they?re not misguided. They?re killers," he said, his words deliberate. "And I know that doesn?t mean much to someone from Gotham the land of giving mass murderers second chances."

Cinque turns his attention momentary towards her direction as watched her join the battle. Cinque?s attention quickly turns back to the battle, his sharp eyes catching sight of something that sent a chill rippling through his calculated apathy.Amidst the chaos, an elderly man stood out. He wore a suit and tie, a picture of composure in the maelstrom. While the others faltered, panicked, or attacked blindly, this man?s only reaction to the falling bodies around him was to brace himself with cold precision.

Cinque?s enhanced intuition sent alarms through his mind, the kind that rarely misfired. This man was dangerous. The realization came as memories of the Brood, a collective nightmare of calculated cruelty played their familiar, dissonant tune in his head. Cinque?s voice dropped to a whisper, a grim observation slipping free.

"Such an interesting insect."

Shifting his tactics, Cinque moved with swift precision. He reached into his belt and pulled out a concussive bomb. He hurled it toward the man, timing the throw so the bomb would land at the man?s feet. Without missing a beat, Cinque raised his revolver and fired.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Karai goes to watch at Batgirl, grinning twistedly behind her armored mask. She holds her blade ready, considering whether to duel.. But she had given the girl a challenge, but merely to stay away. Considering. What was blood spilled worth that was meaningless? "Your presence here is meaningless. Stay out of our way or end up a casualty." The blasts, smoke bombs, and tear gas are met with her flinging more small daggers through the air at them that would deploy small detonators around the area towards the drones. Then Karai would be leaping down towards the ground, twisting and going in for a full landing. Whether Batgirl went to charge at her or not, or merely continue to observe. Fighting the drones would be a waste if she even could.

There's nothing here that's a true threat over to Divine. Nothing that can hurt her if she's paying attention, even as she goes to start knocking down threats before they can harm civilians. This is having some level of a twisted detente amongst the fighters as they maneuver around to try and avoid her. This is a batlte to the death, but they can't finish their fight if she gets in the way. So her presence acts as 'herding' them, keeping them away from civilians as she incapacitates those in her way.

Grendel has the edge over on his adversary. Whom had been slowed just a bit by the electric discharge. That's each slash was a bit slower as electronics and alien enhancements stayed just a little behind brain and motion. It was going to be a long, hard fight, and attrition favored the fresh. The ninja went to hiss, moving to charge forwards over at Grendel in an all or nothing attack, putting all of his power into it. A massive shift from the conservative fighter that had been going for quick slashes and feints so far the melee. They clearly couldn't be -that- desperate yet. If the attack failed, they would be eliminated.

As Cinque would go to flip the concussion grenade out, the elderly man would watch him. "Oh, good, fighting unfair is a smart thing. But it also makes you lazy. Overrelying on superior firepower wins most times, but you get sloppy. And all it takes is just those few times.." A small knife is thrown, which goes to pop the 'detonator' off the concussion grenade that Cinque had thrown at him to kill the weapon in midair, it dropping perfectly cut before the charge could trigger and roll. Then those bullets were fired at him. A duck to the side. Bullet missed. A twist. Next shot missed. A third.. Missed. The man moving just enough out of the way to evade them each.

Elsewhere along the battlefield, Hun and Bronze Tiger would continue their brawl. Bronze Tiger's skill and speed brutal, on par with some of the best fighters in the world. He would be a blur as he fought a man that was easily twice his size and strong enough to crush a Turtle into soup.. Yet the massive man couldn't so much as land a single hit on him. A quick pair of punches from Bronze Tiger that would be aimed as pressure blows would barely crack through layers of scar tissue and muscle, and spasms that should have had the man dropping from a sudden heart attack did nothing.

Hunter Rose has posed:
Most wars concluded either when one side gave up or one side was goaded into a desperate gambit that failed decisively. Grendel spun the later narrative with his reserved jabs and cuts. The charge is met by Grendel hurling the vibro-sword at his adversary as he slipped the toe of his boot under his nearby spear. With a raise of the leg, he hurls the spear back into his grasp and then braces it.

The cybernetic ninja distracted by the hurled sword and already off balance from the desperate charge impales itself upon Grendel's electro-fork. For good measure, a wave of electricity pours into the assailant. The skirmish concluding, Grendel tilts the spear to the side and deposits the charred skewered remains of the ninja onto the concrete.

With a flourished bow toward Lady Shiva, he then darts into the seclusion of a nearby alley way to once more ascend to the roof-tops. His performance was concluded. Just enough martial prowess to perhaps secure further contracts or position with the league. The rest of his contributions to the battle would be far less flashy. Only ruthless opportunistic interventions for the rest of the evening. Showy duels were exhausting and inefficient.

Cinque Evers has posed:
"It is not superior firepower or laziness," Cinque said, his voice calm, almost mocking as he holstered his Navy Colt revolvers. The faint hum of the weapons? recharge cycles whirred into the background, but Cinque?s focus was razor-sharp, locked onto the elderly man below. He tossed a smoke bomb onto the rooftop, enveloping himself in a shroud of shadow, before throwing another bomb toward the man. The plume of smoke burst around the elder, obscuring his figure in a billowing haze.

With fluid precision, Cinque swung down from the rooftop, landing with a soft thud within the smoky veil. As the world around them became a blur, Cinque?s mind did the opposite. It sharpened.

He hadn?t consciously acknowledged it yet, but his abilities had grown far beyond the combat training he?d endured recently from Shield. His absorption of the Brood, he memories of a hive mind bred for conques, now coursed through him, augmenting his every thought and movement. His mind processed the elderly man?s movements with inhuman precision.

The faint shifts in the man?s posture betrayed where he?d dodge next. The cadence of his breathing signaled his stamina. Even the subtle angles of his arms and hands told Cinque how the man was preparing to block. To Cinque, the man?s body was a living algorithm, and in this smoky arena, Cinque had already begun solving it.

From the fog, Cinque unsheathed his two Bowie knives, their blades gleaming ominously. He moved with deliberate speed, feinting a strike with one knife toward the man?s left flank. A cruel smile curled across Cinque?s lips as he shifted his weight, slamming the second knife downward in the opposite direction to stop the man.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The old man just would match Cinque posture for posture, not attacking over and just waiting for the attack to come. Cinque's speed was incredible, even for the man that had just dodged bullets so easily. When one could stab faster than they could shoot, it became an issue. And he's not here to fight a cape. Somehow despite the hits taken his tie was completely unruffled, he would stand back and give a salute to Cinque, disengaging.

The fight continues, however, breaking off into smaller clusters now as reinforcements begin arriving. Other heroes responding to the fight and more officers. The combatants want to win their feud, and having to fight their way through the capes to fight one another prevents this. The fighters in turn go to scatter, bodies vanishing along with them, as do dropped weapons as the area begins to clear.

And once again there's an uncertainty - who is winning and what does this matter in the greater scheme than centuries old petty fighting?