2760/Court of Owls: The Walking Dead

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Court of Owls: The Walking Dead
Date of Scene: 03 August 2020
Location: The Narrows - Miagani Island
Synopsis: Red Hood is attacked by Talons. Plural. Lucky for him, he has backup in the form of Ravager. Rule one: Cardio. Rule two: Double Tap.
Cast of Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Rose Wilson




Tim Drake has posed:
Night. Late. Migani Island. The Narrows.

If there is one place in Gotham where it can be expected that a good time can be had by all looking for trouble, this is the place.

The evening has mostly been the same as most evenings, really... a few errant drug dealers, various gangs barking noise or bowing up to each other... a structure fire or two that largely have gone ignored as long as they aren't risking spreading further than themselves. It's the Narrows. The GCPD doesn't come down through here after dark, and that's a known fact.

The streets have been largely quite of clowns, or giant walking crocodilians, or mafia thugs in cheap suits tonight. That's a good thing, perhaps.

Jason Todd has posed:
The odd clown, crocodilian or mob guy might make for a good distraction, by in large the low level street scum of the Narrows didn't present much of a challenge. Beyond that, Jason had been that sort of street scum before, he knew most of them were desperate rather than evil, so in Red Hood's book that got them a pass. Though it didn't mean he didn't drop in to say 'boo' now and again.

One such group of teen street dealers were fleeing from their encounter with the 'dangerous' Red Hood just now, as Red calmly dismantled the piece he took off one of them.

Tossing the pieces into a storm drain, he activate helmet comms and puts a call out over one of the channels used by the Outsiders. << Anyone out tonight? >> he figured one of them might be out and about, since he knew none of the Bat's patrol routes were going to take them down this way for at least another couple of hours.

Rose Wilson has posed:
<< Depends on who you are looking for. >> It's a voice he'd recognize, on a channel only one group is known to be using. So unless Ravager is who he is looking for, he probably is SOL.

For her own part, Rose is in the area, although she hasn't taken to picking on a group of street dealers to work out her own feelbads. Instead, she seems to be looking for clowns. Or crocodilians. Or even a mobster or two, which means that she's coming up pretty short on things.

Tim Drake has posed:
Behind Red Hood, there's a rustling in the alleyway. And another rustle. No voices. Could be a cat. Stray dog. Could be a lot of things. But there's a particular creepy-crawly sensation that Hood might experience under his armor that might give him the indication this isn't just a wandering animal, hunting for garbage scraps.

A soft clang on the fire escape off to his left. And a shuffling noise to his right. ...surrounded. But by who?

Or maybe by what? A glance over his shoulder to what's to his left or rigth shows the same thing... a person in a brown, custom fitted body suit not too different from what any of the rogues of Gotham might wear... the mask is owlish in looks on the upper half of the face and head, with red goggles over the eyes. The exposed skin of the mouth and jaw is sallow, almost slack, even as the jaw itself is clentched.

One on the fire escape. Three to the right. Who knows how many in the alley.

Jason Todd has posed:
The voice is familiar and welcome. << Wondered if you'd be out tonight. At 47th and Finger if you want to hang, it looks like a quiet- >> And just like that he jinxed himself. Damn it. He hears the first noise, then the others, whirling around with his pistols drawn. He pauses when he catches sight of the owl masks. "Heh," he says, something that'd be picked up over comms. "You guys here to tell me how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" he quips before he opens fire at the one up top with one gun and the three in the alley with the other. No matter what TV and movies say, firing with two guns is bullshit unless you're aiming at the same damn thing, so the bullets are aimed low, but that's about it as Red makes a break for cover. << Ravager, if you want a shot at the guys who got Red, get to my 20 ASAP! >>

Rose Wilson has posed:
The abrupt way Hood cuts off already has Ravager in motion, heading for the direction of the corner he just gave her. It takes no more than five seconds before he hears her again, << Five minutes out. >>

Maybe less than those five minutes with the way she's going through the alleys, coming up from behind where the new creeps in goggles are. Just dumb luck that has her coming from that direction, and considering the reputation these guys are getting, maybe not the best luck for her.

Tim Drake has posed:
The bullets don't really bounce off their targets, the ones that hit with Jaybirds 'spray low and pray high' tactics, anyway. But they don't seem to affect them either... for some reason. Perhaps their costumes absorb much of the force. The one on the fire escape jumps over the railing and lands heavily on the ground, moving closer to Red Hood. The three to his right also move to close in... fast, but not exactly superhumanly. And there's two in the alley, which Rose can see as she comes up from behind, that are moving their way towards Hood. It's apparent they are trying to box him in on 47th, as if the open street between the buildings means nothing to them, and is if they don't care if anyone sees them.

But who might?

The streets are silent.

Each of the beings draw blades. Some are short, some are long. But they are all oddly shaped. They don't look like regular swords, precisely. They look like stylized talons.

Jason Todd has posed:
<< Fuck >> Jason curses over open comms as his barrage is a whole lot less effective than he'd hoped. << Six targets, bullet resistant as fuck. Got swords >>

The one that lands heavily in front of him, gets to become the focus of Jason's attention, as he raises one of his guns aiming for center mass as he pulls the trigger over and over until the gun goes click. Either the guy's armour will take it or it won't and Jason's not particularly worried about option two right now.

Rose Wilson has posed:
<< Lucky day then, I've got swords, too. >> Which, she does. It's possible they aren't a match for these odd swords that these guys pull, but they might be just as good.

The two in the alley that she's coming up behind are the first targets that she spots, and runs for. The twin swords are pulled as she goes for the one on the left first, running as quietly but as quickly as she can so that she can try and decapitate one of the weirdos.

Tim Drake has posed:
Dakka dakka dakka! Click click. The talon that earned the full brunt of Jay's clip stutters from the force of the bullets. His 'armor' is clearly not armor at all, but a roughspun cloth with nothing behind it to block bullets.

So perhaps any consternation Jason may have at the holes made in the talon's torso not really affecting it could be forgiven.

His target didn't even bleed.

Though he clearly has a plethora of bullet holes in his center of mass, he keeps coming, a little slower than his comrades. His blade swings. But then again, so do the other three directly on Red Hood: swing, slice, and jabbing with their blades as they keep surrounding him, sidestepping and strafing to prevent him from escaping the circle they are creating.

Their friends would be moving to join, except they've been distracted. Rose's bladestrike bites deeply into the neck of the talon she swings to decapitate... and sticks a bit. There's no blood there either. And it's turning to face her, as is its companion.

None of them speak, scream, or make any noise despite any of this.

Jason Todd has posed:
Well shit is about all Jason has time to think when his bullets barely slow the Talon in front of him. Then it's on, the one in front and the three to his flank surround him slicing and moving. One blade is parried with his spent pistol, the other pistol is put point blank into another Talon's face and fired, another blade cuts that arm, leaving it bruised but functional the fuckton of armour that is the Red Hood suit, saving it from being severed. Another shot is fired off, and a blade finds a weakpoint in the armour and leaves Jason bleeding. He twists to stop another from doing the same, then in desperation he drops his piece, grabs and arms a grenade, before dropping it and making a desperate leap over the lead Talon's head, bracing himself for the cut but hoping to make it a good on the exchange when the grenade detonates.

<< Fire in the hole >> he calls out the warning over coms, vaguely aware Rose had joined the battle somewhere to his rear.

Rose Wilson has posed:
The fact the blade gets stuck is just sometimes the price of doing business, blades get stuck in bone. Don't let Hollywood fool you on that.

But generally speaking the thing you cut doesn't keep standing, and sure as fuck doesn't not scream and make some kind of noise. Even if it's an oh fuck. Which is what Rose says. << Oh fuck. >>

Rose is often times very, very unflappable. Comes from being the psycho daughter of a psycho, after all. But this ranks up there on the creep-o-meter that might even bother her father. The call for fire in the hole doesn't budge her out of her stunned staring until it's too late, which leads her to do the leap towards safety as things go boom.

Tim Drake has posed:
The talon that took a point-blank round to the face actually drops, twitching, to the ground and stops moving. There are no real responses from the other talons as one of their own drops, as they continue pressing their attacks relentlessly.

Jason's frantic leap may cost him a hit to his leg, but it does mostly get him clear of the blast. The grenade blast rocks the street, blowing out nearly car windows and setting off a few alarms, as well as leaving yet another 'pothole' on 47th. The latter is probably the least noticable of the effects.

However, the grenade has a few more positive effects on Red Hood's attackers. The one that had dropped to the ground with a round in its head blasts into three separate directions, in three separate pieces. The other three are launched back and out by the blast, with smoldering flames on their costumes that they seem to ignore. They are knocked down, of course, but after a little bit of time the one with the bulletholes in his chest and the other two of his buddies get up. One clearly has a broken leg, from the odd angle it's at, slowing it down, even as it tries and 'correct' the damage. Another's arm is clearly out of the socket, which it pauses and shoves it back in place before advancing on Jason again.

Nothing living should be able to do this.

Rose manages, mostly be virtue of being further away, to avoid the blast radius. Unfortunately, so too does her two playmates, who are only staggered by the blast, not knocked down. However, they are now between Red Hood and Ravager, and Hood's former playmates, while back on their feet, are slowed down significantly.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason hisses as he lands, trying to ignore the pain in his leg as he rolls to his feet. That definitely puts a timer on this fight, he's not going to be able to keep going for long with a wounded leg. Though the downed Talon gives him a bit of hope as he slaps a new magazine into his gun, as he fights down his discomfort at watching these guys pick themselves up and almost literally put themselves back together. His voice is calm however as he says over comms << So, whatever the fuck these guys are, the zombie trope works, aim for the head. >>

With that, Jason starts shooting at the main Talons as they fix legs and arms each bullet aimed for the head.

Rose Wilson has posed:
<< Zombie trope? >> Oh, Rose.

Maybe she just wants Jason to admit that he watches zombie movies. What she does understand, regardless of if she's pulling his leg or not, is aim for the head. So after she rolls herself over, and gets back to her feet, she uses her now empty hand to pull the gun and aim for the one with her sword sticking out of it's neck. She's got a bone to pick with him.

It means she takes her eyes off the other one as she aims and squeezes the trigger, which might come back to haunt her.

Tim Drake has posed:
Headshots are difficult on a moving target. And these ones aren't particularly slowed. Jay does manage to peg one of the three squarely in the head, the other two hit in the head-area (one losing a jaw, and the other grazing a cheek). Rose's shot hits the slowed, half decapitated Talon square as well. The squarely hit ones drop. The others are moving. And faster than 'zombies' should be. Blades out, Rose's playmate dives at her, a sword in one hand and long dagger in the other, striking fast and hard. But it's apparent she isn't the designated target, merely being kept back and away, a target of opportunity, if you will. Because the other two converge on Red Hood, even with a recently shoved back in arm and a bullet-riddled torso. And they are very muchy intending to take him apart with their blades, piece by piece if they must.

Jason Todd has posed:
<< Dawn of the Dead, Zombieland, stuff like that? How are you dating Nerdbat and not seen zombie movies? What do you guys talk about? >> Jason quips breathlessly as he fights for his life. Whistling in the dark, a tried and true way to get through a stressful situation.

Jason is glad of the quick load drills Talia's hired trainers had put him through as the Talons close on him, dropping one mag and loading a fresh one in heartbeats, even so he's alright fighting by the time he yanks back the slide to chamber a fresh round.

No more quips now, he's fighting for his life with a wounded leg. A slash cuts into his arm, another grates against the heavy ceramic plates on his side, a third he blocks with his reinforced gauntlets, before he sticks a gun into a chinless face and squeezes off three rounds, before the other one readies a new strike.

Rose Wilson has posed:
<< We don't talk much. >>

That is possibly more information than Jason wants to or needs to know, and probably also more information than aforementioned NerdBat probably would care to have shared with BrotherBat. MurderBat? Can there be two MurderBats?

Either way, the one that she manages to shoot and take out is great. It leaves her with the single one, and when it comes at her, swinging and slicing with sword and dagger, even she doesn't get free bloodied. The small scrapes she got from her dive away from the grenade are small in comparison to the one that blooms across her forearm as she lifts her arm to try and block a strike. Even if she's not the target, she's not about to hang Jason out to try, so she fights in earnest, making a mental note to remember to practice off-hand sword + gun more frequently in the future.

The first shot she aims as she takes the hit on the arm goes wide, the other goes down as she uses the gun to try and block the dagger. << Who the fuck ARE these guys? >>

Tim Drake has posed:
Three point blank rounds to the face should be gory. It should involve the back of a skull expoding outwards into bits of brain and blood and skull. And while the back of the Talon's skull does explode, and skull and something that's probably brain does fly out, there is still no blood. None at all. The corpse collapses to the ground not even twitching as its companion did. The remaining Talons continue to bring the fight to Jason and Rose, though it is clear by now... while they are monstrous combatants, fast, skilled, and hard to kill... they are almost instinctive. Their tactics rudementary, though not non-existant.

The Talon fighting Jason grabs the front of Red Hood's armor with a clawed grip, drawing back his long dagger to drive it through Hood's helmet.

The one struggling with Rose does a footsweep to knock her off her feet. They may be instinctive, but whatever those instincts are are obviously highly trained fighters.

Jason Todd has posed:
It's Murderbat Prime thank you very much. Jason was the murderbat before being the murderbat was cool. << No fucking clue. But they're not human. >> At least not any more.

Jason finds his stomach turning at the lack of viscera pouring from the Talon's skull. It was wrong and unsettling and it made him nervous, Rose's question echoing in his mind, 'what the fuck are these guys'.

That moment of distraction lets the one get a drop on him, the Talon yanking him towards him sending shocks of pain up Jason's wounded leg, blade poised to stab through his mask. A hand is thrown desperately to grab hold of the Talon's knife hand, while his other hand raises his gun to aim at the back of the Talon's head that just swept Rose's legs.

Rose Wilson has posed:
The one that sweeps her legs out from under her should get applauded for getting the drop on her, and she should get chewed out for being careless. The sword arm twists to brace her as she goes down, attempting to protect her head from bashing into the ground at the risk of her elbow and shoulder joints, and potentially her wrist if she's very unlucky.

The downward fall at least gives her a different perspective, and although she's not as good a shot as her father, or Jason either, one thing she's pretty certain of. Jason probably can't survive a knife to the head, probably. So she takes desperate aim as she goes down, trying to get a shot off towards the head of the one trying to stab Jason. Without hitting him in the process, and accepting whatever fate might bring for her from the one now looming over her.

Tim Drake has posed:
Inadvertant teamwork from two people who don't often like working on teams, it seems. Jason's bullet hits the back of the Talon over Rose squarely in the back of the head, desperate shot or not. Likewise, Rose's shot from the ground clips Jason's adversary at an upward angle, going in through the ear and out through the other side of the skull just above the ear.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason collapses on top of the Talon as Rose's knife takes it down, the thing's hand still gripping the front of his armour, he pulls away quickly despite the pain in his leg and looks at the bloodless corpses scattered around them both, he sits there leaning on his hands and breathing hard. After a moment he asks, "You good?" as he begins loading a fresh clip into his pistol before trying to get to his feet. "And to answer your question, I have no clue, except for whatever took Red Robin down." At least that's his best theory at the moment. "We should get out of here, I don't think we're up to dealing with more of these guys tonight."

Rose Wilson has posed:
Is she good? She's bleeding, but that is a minor problem, honestly. "Yeah...I'm good." Rose calls back, despite her just laying there looking like she's somewhat stunned by the entire series of events.

Then she starts to get to her feet, moving to try and pull her sword free of the one Talon corpse, "I don't suppose you drove here?" Because she did not, and even to her, getting out of here asap seems like a good idea.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason gets to his feet, favouring his wounded leg. "Yeah, I drove, bike's about five blocks back," he says, though the idea of riding on his motorcycle makes him flinch inwardly. "One sec though," he says, bending down to yank Rose's blade from the Talon's head and sliding it back to her, not trusting himself to lob it properly, then he goes looking for one of those curved talon-like swords, finding one he hefts it, then turning back to the body he just pulled the knife from he lops its head clean off. "I'm sure Red will want a sample of whatever these guys are," he says as he bends down to pick up the head.

Rose Wilson has posed:
"Thanks." Rose offers, which she barely ever says so that might give a hint to just how shook this whole thing has her. The blades are wiped off before being slid away, then she starts to trail after him when he goes to chop off heads. "I'm sure he'll be happy that you brought him a head...I'll hang onto it." She holds her hands out, which will clearly leave him to drive them away from this crazy experience.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason for his part puts the sword into his belt. He's keeping this thing for now, even if he is walking around looking like a pirate right now. He hands Rose the head, seemingly unbothered by passing that bit of bone and flesh around like a basketball. "Sure," he says. "C'mon, let's get moving, longer drive than I'd like to the Roost," he says before leading the way.