3046/Team Stick: Tres Case de Batuta

Team Stick: Tres Case de Batuta
Date of Scene:	22 August 2020
Location:	Abandoned upstairs safehouse on Coney Island
Synopsis:	The Hand attempts to discourage Team Stick by means of death, but only galvanised their resolve.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Matthew Murdock, Dick Grayson

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi had sent directions to both Daredevil and Nightwing. She wanted them to meet. Dual stick fighters were rare enough in the world in general, let alone two vigilantes fighting the good fight. Bobbi was not going to miss this opportunity to talk to kindred souls of the stave.

The building is as described, a dilapidate Mr. Android store, the back door had a loose brick and behind it a keypad with a code that Bobbi provided. The back entrance leads upstairs to the loft. It's dusty with some furniture, tinted windows with three different directions of vantage. An old mattress in the corner. It's what happens to forgotten safe houses.

Despite being ignored for many years, a state of the art scanner flashes a beam over those that enter, logging their presence to a server sitting under the floor boards. Bobbi had almost forgotten this place existed too, but while she slept, it jumped in to her mind. No one would mind if she borrowed it for a night.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil lacking the money and fancy gear of the world's largest spy agency or a certain group of Gotham based crime fighting family took a cab to Coney Island as Matt Murdock, leaving word with Daisy on where he was going and what he was doing. Once there, he simply climbed a building with no immediate buildings next to it and changed into his costume there, leaving his clothes waiting for him in his gym bag. Then he was off, swinging past the amusement park to creep through the shadows to the back of the location Bobbi had described. Finding the door propped open, he steps through seemingly unfazed by the scanner as he turns and walks up the stairs, walking loudly enough to announce his presence, even as he calls out. "I'm here."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing had gotten the memo on the issue and had fortunately been not horrendously hard to get here, in this case by Wingcycle. He was midlly surprised to see Daredevil here, but he says, "Greetings, I'm Nightwing," giving a brief nod as a reflex. The former Robin turns to Bobbi and looks to the scene before looking back, "So what exactly are we looking for? Hopefully not as fierce as those muggers the other day."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi waits until she sees both of her chosen heroes enter the safehouse. She enters after them and shuts the door. The antique computer system still has a voice system, which any modernised SHIELD safehouse abandoned ages ago. "Greetings Agent Morse, you have two uninvented guests."

Mockingbird, more specifically, dressed in dark armor, a split cape hanging from her back and goggles one her face. It is barely a disguise, but it is more about not getting stabbed and shot than anything else. "Wrong again 2010 tech, wrong again," she sighs and walks over to a floor board, lifts it up, then pulls out a keyboard and delete the logs.

"Nightwing, meet Daredevil. Daredevil, meet Nightwing. We three are a rare breed, dual stick fighters.. and unfortunately Nightwing I couldn't leave well enough alone. I followed up on the mugger and was attacked by a merry band of ninjas," she says it rather nonchalant, motioning to Daredevil, "And met Daredevil in the process. They are far far worse than the muggers. Daredevil, would you like to fill Nightwing in on The Hand?"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil nods to Bobbi when he reaches the top of the stairs, letting his senses give him a picture of the room. "Nice digs," he says with a touch of a smirk. Though before much longer Nightwing has joined them and Daredevil nods back, "Da-" he begins before Bobbi performs the introductions. "Good to meet you. I heard good things about your work in Bludhaven,"

At Bobbi's prompting Matt supplies, "The Hand are a cult of criminals obsessed with immortality and some other mystical endevours," he wasn't certain of Danny's stories about a war with Ku'n Lu'n and he wasn't going go to into it now. "But basically they're killers and criminals working from the shadows to fund their other projects and I assume fill their pockets. They use a lot of cut outs, probably what their tie was to those muggers, expendable errand boys."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing chuckles at the AI being a tad late and then nods to the third stickfighter, "Daredevil, the name's reached my ears, only good things, though. And thanks, the city needs all the help it can get," he says with a nod. "That does not surprise me one bit," Nightwing says to Bobbi, knowing her line of work.

When Daredevil explains the Hand to him, Nightwing raises a brow, "Outstanding. So wannabe immortals at all costs, and trying to get rich in the process?" He frowns and crosses his arms, "So where are we going to root them out?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"Roxxon Energy, may be," she says in response to Nightwing's question. "Daredevil you forgot to mention they're ninjas with a lot of talent and sharp blades." She smirks and from her thigh pocket takes out a tablet. She opens it like a small book and a screen comes to life. "This is everything SHIELD has on Roxxon Energy. I hope it's helpful. These guys don't strike me as the sort of ninjas who take humiliation lightly," she comments as she offers the electronic device over to Daredevil.

"So perhaps we could train each other. I've seen you both fight, all three of us have very different styles of engagement. Only good can come of us sharing our tactics," she continues and then takes her staves out from her back and gives them a twirl, then offers one to each of them. "These are my staves, hidden stun button in the first third on each baton, connector on each, full length when combined - quarter staff." They have enough felt to them to do some damage when striking an opponent, but still light enough to move smoothly when wielded correctly.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Yeah, there is that part," Daredevil says about the ninjas bit. "And Roxxon has been one of the legitimate businesses they've worked with, there are likely others, but it'll make a good place to start," he makes no move to get the tablet, letting Nightwing do the honours. "And no, they don't take humiliation well, but they already hate me and hopefully they're not going to risk going after someone in SHIELD."

As for training, he says, "I'm down. I even have a spot we can do it, if you guys don't mind trekking to Hell's Kitchen," he says, before producing his fighting sticks, "No stun baton but," he whips the end out of one of the batons and hooks it to a shelf in the kitchenette, a thin metal line running between the baton and the baton end. He whips it back into place. "Can do that, combine into a bigger stick, also come apart as nunchucks if needed."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick nods to Bobbi as she mentions Roxxon, "Yeah, sounds about right to fit the whole ensemble." He snorts and nods, "We each have our own equipment." He in turn takes out his own, mostly unremarkable save for a button near the grips that kind of give away that they do something. Nightwing presses them and they give a buzz and crackle, "Less-than-lethal, but don't combine, unfortunately." he looks to the other two, "But more than enough to take down a grizzly if I needed to." When the topic shifts to where he shrugs, "Pretty much anywhere that isn't Gotham or Bludhaven would work for me."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi nods her head, "That sounds good to me Daredevil. Another excuse to visit that part of town." She lifts an eyebrow at the way Daredevil's baton turns in to essentially a grappling hook and apparently also nunchucks. "Wow, that's very co..." She shuts her eyes a moment and lets out a breath, "Extremely awesome."

She grins at Nightwing and says, "I've seen the way you use them, you're very fast. I'm guessing a lot of natural talent."

The distant sound of approaching quiet foot fall, or perhaps the beating of hearts. Across roof top and through allies. Daredevil can likely hear them.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
There's a nod about the gear. "Wow, I feel like I should talk to my guy about putting a stun gun into mine," he jokes about their various weapons. "Handy though, I've fought some guys who could probably wrestle a grizzly."

Cocking his head to the side like a dog who's heard a noise, Daredevil reports. "Someone's coming," he announces going silent as he listens closer. "Nine, no ten men. On foot. Closing. Swords," he rights his head. "The Hand. Guess the fight's coming to us, he draws his staves.

There's a bang at the front door as it is kicked open and feet pound on the stairs heading up, while more footfalls can be heard on the roof.

The SHIELD safehouse announces "Agent Morse, proximity alert."
5rBefore Daredevil chimes in, "Five up top, five on the stairs."

Then the windows burst open as four of the five rooftop ninja burst through and a moment later the first of the ones on the stairs reach the room. There is no warnings or requests to surrender they just attack.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Speed is my asset, I can't hit like Superman, or run like the Flash, or have laser eyes, but I can move quickly and get the heck out of the way!" Dick laughs and looks to Daredevil, the mirth stopping once he gets the memo from the fellow vigilante. "Great." Especially as it's confirmed by the AI. At least his stick are out to deal with problems.

"So what' the play?" Dick asks, not knowing the place well enough, though the arrival of a few through the roof answer his question as Dick lashes out, aiming for knees and sides, not wanting to risk a lethal head wound on the Hand. They may be baddies, but Nightwing still has rules.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi puts the tablet away and summarises what it says, "Roxxon had an employee named Wollingsly who used their funds to purchase warehouses in New York, Gotham, and Metropolis. They seem like places we should check out." She stops talking when Daredevil starts to hear something. She had no idea he had super hearing.

"Alright then," she says which is immediately followed by the computer alarm, "Useless junk," she says with a grimace. "These guys are going to try and kill you Nightwing, don't hold back."

She twirls her staves and stares intently at the door. It's a fantastic choke point and when the door is breached, she greets them by charging in with a flying kick. Having fought them before she knows it won't hurt them, but it will at least force them to fight their way in.

A slash of one blade is blocked by a stave, but the second, predicted strike, finds empty space as Bobbi backs off and gives them the entrance they are demanding. "Pajama party 2.0," she says with noises of exertion as she starts blocking and moving away from three swords at once. She hears one say in Japanese /attack her right hand, it is hurt/.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil is ready when the ninja smash through the windows. There's no hesitation, as one bursts through, Daredevil is already in the air foot extended, driving him back through the window and down to the street below. A one story fall wasn't going to stop him but it'd buy them a few seconds with one less opponent. He brings up a stave behind him catching a sword blade before turning to make a return strike.

Used to lethal tactics the Nightwing's ninja don't see the low blows coming until he's cracked one of their kneecaps sending one of the black clad men to the floor. The other two give the man some space, spreading out as much as the space allows, to try to split his focus, then they attack, one to the right fienting while the one on the left makes the true attack!

Bobbi's three seem to work as one, two keeping her busy from the left while one slips right swinging hard in an attempt to make her parry with her wounded hand.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Oh, I figure they'll try," Nightwing says, "Still playing to knock out. Got a reputation to keep." He parries one sword with his stick, using the other to try and disarm the man with a wrist strike before throwing an elbow to try and drop the one behind him before whirling back on the first one, aiming for the man's side, where he hopes to send a shock to hopefully take him out of the fight.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi calls out as her eyes remain wide in surprise at the ferocity of the attacks, "Where's.. the tenth guy?" She has fought highly skilled assassins and won.. but a trio working together like a perfectly choreographed ice skating team? never in her wildest dreams. She is both transfixed, horrified, but also thrilled at their skill. Each near miss of a blade has her heart thumping just a little bit fast.

Having manoeuvred them finally where she wants them, right under the hatch to the roof, she goes on the offensive, offering her wounded wrist out to the guy on her right as a trap, then sweeping past his blade and capturing him in an arm lock with her second stave. The wings on her suit power up, the segments in the dark fabric glow purple and the sudden thrust lets her throw the man up against the hatch. It's not enough to break through but it is right up there on the list of unconventional tactics. She drives her shoulder in to him vertically and then drops back to her feet, /Whose next?,/ she asks them in Japanese as she notes the brutal take down of kneecaps by Nightwing.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Still up there," Daredevil grits out as another ninja joins his first pressing the red suited vigilante back against the window. That's when the one that got kicked out the window climbs back in reaching for Daredevil's throat from behind, Matt's ready for him, he turns grabs and throws, yanking him into the room and throwing him at the two in front of him, one goes down under him, the other steps out of the way rushing at Matt who flips out of the way.

Nightwing's gambit works, escaping the trap set by the ninja, his elbow has one reeling and the baton strike to the side drops the other twitching to the floor. Now he's just got one to deal with.

Bobbi's 'demonstration' gives the two ninja pause. They weren't trained to deal with winged suits. As their companion drops to the floor by Bobbi they begin to step back warily unwilling to press the attack.

However that's when Daredevil shouts a warning, "Bobbi, behind you," as the tenth ninja appears through one of the shattered windows, lithe, obviously female with a pair of swords on her back and her clothing bristling with throwing knives a trio of which she's thrown at Bobbi's back.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi barely has time to react as the knives are thrown toward her. Twisting her body as she dives, one knife bounces off of her armor, another cuts along one of the anti-gravity plates in her wing, the third missing her just barely. The HUD on her glasses spews out a bunch of warnings about the wings and the glow fades as they initiate an emergency shut down for later diagnostics to confirm everything is still alright.

Bobbi rolls back up to her feet, "Not on the roof then." She clips her two batons together and like a gunslinger of the old west, her I.C.E.R. pistol is drawn and she takes a shot at one of the two Hand ninjas that stepped back. He's just as quick though and dives out of the way of the dendrotoxin toxen darts.

"Fast little buggers aren't they," she mutters with annoyance, holstering her pistol and charging toward the one that's still standing.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick takes a breath as one is dropped, but he is soon distracted by the presence of the other, and there is no time to simply sit back and play defense all day. That'll just make you tired. He instead goes on the offense, trying to set the pace, laying down a blistering pace of attacks, in a seemingly random order of high and low, sometimes simultaneously, working to hopefully land a few stunning strikes to take him out of the picture.

From the periphery, he notices the wings pop out and blinks, but the flying blades also are noted, but Nightwing cannot help until his current threat is dealt with.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil catches his opponent's blade with a gauntleted hand gives him kick in the chest, then spinning a roundhouse to the side of his head. The man drops but the throwing the 10th ninja's blades come flying from behind the body forcing Matt to flip backwards to avoid them, one lodging itself between the plates of the armour before he brushes it aside, and punches one of the men trying to rise from the ground.

Nightwing's relentless assault pays off, the ninja goes on the defensive, trying to parry two batons with one sword, it's tiring work and when they slow for just a second that's when his baton connects and down he goes twitching on the floor.

They are indeed fast as Bobbi charges so too dose her last ninja, blade ready as he rushes forward like a blurr of black cloth and steel.

The 10th ninja isn't idle however, she tosses trios of throwing blades at both Nightwing and Bobbi then draws her twin swords and waits for the fight to come to her.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi would never dare to engage this ninja with the sword on in a fair fight. As he charges at her and she charges at him, she suddenly drops in to a slide, propping her staff to the floor, the other end going in to his gut firmly as she slides between his legs and presses the stun but. zzzZZAP right in the stomach. As she rises back up she sees a dagger fly right past her eyes and its poisoned edge cuts across the bridge of her nose.

She stumbles for a moment from the unexpected danger up close and personal, but then stumbles again as it starts to ache and burn intensely. "Ahh!," she says and stumbles back again, cupping the barely bleeding wound with a hand.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick inhales now that he has the chance. He looks out as Bobbi is stumbling from the strike. He reaches into his utility belt and pulls out a small plastic box, inside of which is a small bandage, a swab for cleaning a wound, and a general anti-toxin, along with some ammonia for making blood untraceable. "Here!" Nightwing says and chucks it over to Bobbi, while he is unable to parry the thrown blades, two lodge themselves in the harder portions of his suit, while a third leaves a small cut.

"Dammit," Nightwing says as he winces and is a little busy, albeit a tad sluggish, sheathes a stick and with one hand chucks over a wingding, which would soon release a bright flash, "Might want to cover your eyes," he mutters to Daredevil and Bobbi, and switches his mask over to shield his eyes while he begins working on cleaning his wound and applying the anti-toxin.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
It's just down to the 10th ninja now, but clearly she didn't expect the sort of arsenal the Bat Family carries. The bright flash lights up the room like a second sun for a few moments before going out, and the 10th ninja is left squinting with the painful after image of that bright light burned into her eyes. They barely have time to realize what happened before Daredevil is there, kicking first, then closing for a few follow up punches, the 10th ninja falls to their knees breathing heavily, with Daredevil standing above her.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi drops down to her knees as she catches the box, almost fumbling it as she feels her self being sapped. She injects the anti-toxin right in to her neck, gotta get it in the blood stream as quickly as possible. Her breathing is quickening, she can feel the clamy sweats. She knows she's been poisoned. She cleans up the wound next and squints with blurry vision at the tip of her nose - there's only so much her tactical goggles can do to help with her farsightedness.

The warning is given and she shields her eyes, *flash*, then she is back up on her feet. Slow, not at the top of her game. She knows it'll take some time for the poison to be countered. "You picked the wrong people to piss off lady," she says to the woman Daredevil has beaten down. Out comes her phone and she does the one thing she wasn't meant to do while on vacation - she logs in to SHIELD.

Instantly, her phone looks over the image before it and sends the face off to facial recognition. "May be you're a ghost, I don't know, we'll know soon enough though." She looks back over to Nightwing as she feels her heart calming and her reaction time coming back, "Thanks. That's a heck of a utility belt you've got there." And just then the diagnostics for her wings finish and the green light is given to reactivate them. "Fantastic timing." She crouches down in front of the woman and says, /Talk, you are better trained than them, now is your one and only chance to surrender/, she says in Japanese parroting back to her what the ninjas said in the alley.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick grumbles as he finishes cleaning the wound, hoping Daredevil took care of the problem which is confirmed as he looks up. The shields on the mask only block so much, so the blast has him squinting a little. Nightwing takes a knee as he resumes checking on the wound, fortunately feeling confident it is in good enough condition.

"Yeah, it's my real superpower," Dick says with a chuckle, "Also nice to know about the wings. You somewhat qualify for my name more than I do. It's still mine, though." He grins and rises and sheathes his other stick as he begins securing the fallen with zip ties, starting with the unconscious ones as it seems that Bobbi is a little busy interrogating the more awake ones.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The woman looks up dark eyes peering through the mask. /Then you do not understand the Hand/ she says, before Daredevil shouts "No!" sensing something reaching for the woman, Bobbi sees it too a moment later, a flash of metal in the woman's palm, one of her throwing blades snatched off the floor, without hesitation she plunges the blade into her heart.

Matt's down by her side in an instant, "Damn it," he curses, trying to help her as blood spreads out from her chest, but it's too late, after only second she goes still. "Damn it," he curss again more quietly this time, the words full of regret.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi looks on in disgust as she stabs herself in the heart with the poison tipped dagger. She jerks back and stands, turning away. "Shit," she says under her breath. She paces away from the woman and looks to Nightwing as he zipties their new prisoners. "Shit," she repeats and looks back to the woman and to Daredevil. "That's a .. heck of a way to gain immortality." Her left hand tenses and untenses from a fist and her lips thin in to a tight line. "Shit"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Yeah," Daredevil says attention on the body. "Funny how it's the front line guys who have do this and the ones at the top keep on going." He stands then. "Anyhow, we should probably get going, the Hand's getting more aggressive, we can expect more ninja coming our way. Do we want to start looking into these warehouses?" Daredevil asks.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
Bobbi gets a hit back from the SHIELD servers, 60% likelihood that this was a missing persons a decade ago, 12 year old Yumi Nagata from Japan. She turns her phone back off and frowns. "I'll stick with Mockingbird. It's grown on me over the years, but thanks Nightwing."

"Do they always do that? The Hand? That's insanity. Do they believe in resurrection or something?" Distraught, she pushes that aside and returns to the woman. She pats her down, just in case she had anything of use on her person. It's morbid but it's not the first time she's frisked a dead body. "That kind of dedication.. it's something spies sometimes do, to protect secrets."

She looks to Nightwing and Daredevil, "I'm not ready to back away from this fight. The people behind this need to be stopped. How about you Nightwing?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick raises a brow as the interrogation goes a bit sideways. He winces as the prisoner kills herself, "You never get used to that," he notes grimly. He sighs and says, "Yeah, it's kind of a pyramid scheme. Those at the top get all the profit while the others do all the work for those above them."

Nightwing rises after finishing ziptying. "I think the right call is to keep pushing. We can't let up or give them a chance to breathe. Set the pace that they will not be able to keep up with, especially while we have the initiative."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
There's nothing of note on the body and Daredevil nods. "They can when put in a corner, as for resurrection, I've seen some come back from the dead, but not all of them get to be that lucky," there's a nod to Nightwing. "Mostly just the guys at the top of the pyramid. However they do a good job of training their fanatics below them."

"I agree, best to push them hard, keep them on the ropes. It'll keep them from counter-attacking and might just force them to retreat entirely."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
"I guess my vacation ends early. I'll get a team to come collect these guys and clean up this mess," she says, her expression more professional now. "I thought this would be a safe place, but I guess they were watching us, waiting to see what we did next. I think they won't like what we do next now." She offers a hand to the other two men. "Team?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Yeah, let's not hope they keep doing that," Nightwing says and raises a brow to Bobbi, "Yeah, if your guys are coming in, Daredevil and I should probably get scarce. Last thing we need is on a file being asked uncomfortable questions." He shakes Bobbi's and offers one to Daredevil, "Team it is."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Definitely time to go," Daredevil agrees before saying, "Reach out the same way if you want to contact us, but let's make it quick and hit them hard."

As to Bobbi's offer, he shakes hand with both her and Nightwing. "Team," he agrees.