3126/The Metropolis Reserve Heist

The Metropolis Reserve Heist
Date of Scene:	27 August 2020
Location:	Metropolis Reserve Bank - New Troy - Metropolis
Synopsis:	When the Shockwave gang tries to rob the Metropolis Reserve Bank, the Titans respond. Things don't go entirely in their favour though. Supergirl has flown away, Heather needs serious amounts of food (pizza may be?) and Nightwing'd bike has been trashed. Oh, the bank was damaged and a lot of gold was stolen too... and the bad guy got away.
Cast of Characters:	Kara Danvers, Heather Danielson, Dick Grayson

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Kara Danvers has posed:
The silent alarm for the bank was tripped. All those months long planning and one single random boring accounts manager who just happened to have a fight with his wife, was in at work when he shouldn't be and saw something he shouldn't have seen and tripped the silent alarm. Now the bank robbers were on the clock. They were a professional crew, they knew what they were getting in to when they hit the 2nd largest gold reserve in the country, behind the Federal Reserves.

Supergirl is more than a little surprised to see that the bank seems to be going about its business as if nothing is happening. She squints a moment and peers through the walls down to the vault area and sees a crew silently setting up equipment to cut in to the vault. Their payday is so close, but she is going to foil it.

"Supergirl?," the security guard says and she turns to him and answers, "Yes. Please, quietly evacuate the building, you're being robbed." She advances past the security check points and in to the lobby where the heavily armed men dressed in all black are doing their work. To their credit, not one single person has been killed - several knocked out and tied up though.

"Sorry boys, this just isn't your lucky day...," Supergirl says with her hands on her hips.

The man in charge turns to face Supergirl and nods her head, "I thought as much. But you never know, you should always be prepared." He disconnects the big gun facing the vault and turns it on Supergirl and hits her with a huge blast of energy. Surprised and a little bewildered, the girl of steel crashes back through several walls.

As the second beam starts to shoot at her, time slows down as she reactions with super speed, her own eyes turning a violent red/white as they shoot back at the beam.

"A stalemate Supergirl? too bad. This could have gotten interesting."

<Titans? This is Supergirl. I need backup at the Metropolis Reserve Bank, asap. Big ..shooty.. laser beam thingy. Six guys. Heavily armed.>

Heather Danielson has posed:
    Silent alarms do -not- mix well with lunch breaks. Or late lunch, or early dinner. What? Girl's gotta eat! Plus, she just found this awesome barbecue place! But Heather had just purchased three of her new favorite all time sandwich. Burger patty, bacon on that, bbq pulled pork on top of -that-. Melted cheese drizzled over it, and an over-easy fried egg on top of it all.
    She had been digging her teeth in for her first bite when the Titans comm went off. She can't move at super speed. Can't fly. Can't even jump superhuman distances. No leaping tall buildings for her. Leaping -off- of them and recovering from becoming street pizza? She can do that.
    But she ended up with three wrapped sandwiches in a bag as she sprinted along towards the identified bank. Though, luck seems to be on her side today. She was literally around the corner. So she sprints across the street in her black halter top she uses as a part of her costume, but skinny jeans instead of the usual black bottoms. What? She likes her skinny jeans.
    Either way, she has a Titans logo on the halter top's left shoulder strap, and she doesn't even pause to ask questions. She just shoves the front door open, striding inside and listening, "Knockout, on scene. Where.. oh wait, gunfire. Gotcha." She says as she turns and runs that way. Subtle she ain't.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing had just gotten off monitor duty when the call came out, he had just gotten comfortable on the couch, too. When he responds, though, he keeps his frustration out of it, <<Nightwing en route.>> He is quick to the Wingcycle and even quicker to the scene, still clad in his costume, though at least his sticks were fully charged.

The sound of gunfire gets Nightwing's attention easily enough and the former Robin quickly dismounts and keeps a low profile as he approaches, <<Nightwing on scene,>> he notes, breaking out his sticks and keeping low along the wall, noting the holes to guide him to his destination, calling out a last time over comms <<Any signs of others or are these the only guests at the party?>>

Kara Danvers has posed:
The alarms start to ring in the bank and people begin to rush out. Any kind of explosion from downstairs is generally considered a bad sign. No more silent alarms, this is the real deal. The police start to scramble.

"Look, I'm not going to raise my voice. I know you can hear me just fine if I talk at a normal volume," the bank robber says as he stands there bracing the super powerful laser aimed and firing directly at Supergirl. A long thick cable snakes over to the power supply they've brought. One man keeps look out occassionally firing his gun up the stairs to dissuade anyone from approaching that way. One has his gun aimed at Supergirl.. he's not even sure why he's bothering to do that but you never know. The other three are setting up C4 on the bank vault door.

"Ya see. I can't cut my way in to the vault nice and quiet like now that I'm shooting it at you. And it seems you can't stop your.. laser eye thingy, because then the laser will hit you. And now I can't cut my losses, because as soon as I turn this laser off, you're going to swoop in and save the day... That's why I always like to be prepared.. my boys are setting up explosives and we're going to have to do this the noisy way."

Supergirl grits her teeth as she slides back a little from the pressure of the laser. The ground cracks beneath her feet as she slowly begins to push back inch by inch. "You sound awful confident you've got all your bases covered mister," Supergirl says and makes fists with her hands. Even she can't focus on much else when her eyes are locked in a battle with a dangerous laser weapon. Might as well keep the man distracted while her teammates flank them. "Why go to all this trouble?"

"Trouble, it's my duty darlin' of steel. The 1% of the 1% have been rigging the system for decades, stealing all the money up from all the good people of this country. Hell I'm a regular Robinhood, though I'll take a percent off the top for my troubles of course. This here is wealth capital redistribution in progress. You're standing in the way of justice. Ever thought of that Supergirl?," the head of the bank robbers says.

"You've got a twisted sense of justice mister," Kara replies, hearing the approach of Nightwing and Knockout. Perfect.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    As Physics cries at lasers doing knockback, Heather charges down the stairs. Self-preservation is not a concept in her mind these days, not the way she heals.
    "Whatever you want to BS as justification for yourself, either way you are just a petty thief." she says as she reaches the bottom of the stairs and a withering fusillade of gunfire heads her way, ripping through her like she was just an ordinary girl and sending her back against the stairs where her body jerks and twitches from the bullets striking it.
    Her strategy? Simplicity itself. She knows Nightwing is on site. Supergirl is occupied and so she is the bullet-absorber right now. Suddenly, the submachineguns pointed her way all click to empty magazines and she just lies there bleeding for a moment before she suddenly inhales and growls out, "I -liked- these jeans!" as she sits up. But the shooters are starting to reload, hopefully giving Nightwing his chance to strike.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing switches his HUD over as he gets near the room so that he can pick up on heat signatures, keeping low and working to steer clear of the public trying to get out of the building. Seeing the explosive on the bank door cause Dick to put back the flashbang wingding he had in mind, but then watches Heather run forward, causing Nightwing to sigh and sneak in quietly instead chucks a wingding at the base of the laser, near the stand waiting a few moments before it lets out a shock that will hopefully short it out for a brief second to buy time for Supergirl.

Kara Danvers has posed:
While she can't turn her head to watch Heather get peppered with bullets. She is aware that it won't actually kill her. That doesn't make it any less distressing as she opens her eyes just a touch more, reducing the intensity of her glare fuelled the weight of all the disappointed stares she must give ;) The laser battle shoots closer to her and she steels her gaze once more.

Particles crackle and unfurl where the two beams strike each other. It takes a great deal of concentration to counter it, her mind and senses working at super speeds, being stuck in a small eternity which will end when her energy runs out, even though her will never could.

The sudden shock briefly shuts the laser down and the bank robber holding it glances down and flicks the off and on switch rapidly, but it's too slow for Supergirl who is already working in super time. She is at him, one hand lifting him up by the collar of his shirt, the other ripping the gun out of his hands. It starts to shoot down in to the flood, cutting a hole right in to the foundations

Fumes from the melting concrete beneath them start to fill the room. The bank robbers already have masks on because they were expecting something like this when they cut through the door. They're not waiting though. They step away and with a ~click~ ... *boom* the room is filled with the intense sound of C4 going off. The bank door creeeeks and with a *thud* crashes to the floor.

As the dust settles, beyond it.. a large room filled with carefully stacked piles of dull golden ingots set upon table after table.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    "One percent huh?" asks Heather, coughing up a bit of blood before the damage to her lung heals up. She gets to her feet and looks up the stairs expecting to see Nightwing. But of course, she doesn't -see- him because he's Nightwing. She gives a thumbsup anyway and says, "Awesome use of the reloading distraction." she exclaims before looking down at her halter-top. "Oh crap, at least I'm not peeking out." she mutters as she spots the holes in said top.
    But as the vault door topples over, she jumps a bit, then laughs nervously. "Sorry, my first exploding bank vault." She admits before stepping forward. "You guys'll wanna be surrendering now. That, or Nightwing'll jump out of the shadows and shove that laser blaster where the sun don't shine." Yep, she's trying to intimidate them by calling on the name of Batman's former sidekick.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing exhales as the wingding does its job, but that relief is short-lived as the vault door comes down, causing him to wince as he was not entirely ready for it. Dick quickly puts on a respirator from his belt as he smells the fumes and tosses a spare to Heather out of principle. The threat in his name gets a raised brow, but he calls out on comms, <<All right, I am going to engage. We need to also cut off exits and keep them corralled if we can't subdue them. MPD should hopefully be here soon. Supergirl, you holding up all right?>>

Dick begins running towards the robbers, sticks out and swinging for knees and elbows, giving light jolts as he goes through, the sticks constatly moving in a whirl of pain and hard lessons for those there to learn that crime sometimes does not pay, weaving around the former Robin tries to wade into the melee.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara coughs at the fumes welling up around her. The sudden explosion of the C4 rings in her ears - super hearing has its down sides sometimes. She winces and shakes her head trying to focus, and though she drops the bank robber, her grip on the laser remains true.

She flicks the switch to shut off the laser... but it doesn't shut off. She flicks it back and forth a few times. "Uh. It's not turning off. Where did you get this thing?"

"Hah. Oh some arms dealer from New York, but wow, that sucks for you Supes.. good luck with that," the bank robber laughs as he stands up. He dashes through the growing fog of disintegrating cement in to the vault to grab some bars.

The clouding isn't so much of a problem for Nightwing with his heat vision on, though the laser is a gigantic blind spot and he can see that it is only getting more intense. Even as he engages the first bank robber, his stave is met with the barrel of a machine gun, though.. he has two staves, so that second one hits, and then knees and and elbows and finally the taser - achieves nothing through their armour. The guy crumbles down to the floor in pain though, groaning out, possibly with broken ligaments. The second and third bank robbers start shooting at Nightwing trying to trace his movements.

The one who shot up Heather before, having reloaded, shoots again - may be she didn't die, but she certainly didn't look happy about being shot. The fifth joins the leader in the vault, scooping up gold bars in to a backpack.

Kara stares with concern at the laser she's holding as it drills faster and stronger in to the ground. She yells a little louder than is necessary given her ears are still ringing, "Titans we have a problem! this laser is gaining in power. It might explode if it keeps doing this. I need to get rid of it!"

Heather Danielson has posed:
    Now that she is ready for it, Heather just leans into the fire. She kicks the floor -really- hard. In fact, so hard that she breaks her heel. In her defense, the heel heals... say that ten times fast. But it heals before she really needs to take another step. She bends and pries up a section of the tile floor.. using that as a shield for the few more seconds it takes to reach the shooter.
    "Hi." She mutters as she lifts her super strong leg up between that guy's legs. "You shoot too much." She mutters before calling to Supergirl, "Can you disconnect the power feed?!"

Dick Grayson has posed:
Armored opponents, the bane of Nightwing's existence. Or at least a nuisance since his sticks are pretty much just very expensive sticks now. The gunfire, though causes Nightwing to keep moving, and if he can get a good look at them, that dang laser making spotting difficult, he will try and loop around and hopefully make them less likely to shoot with one of the other robbers between them.

As Nightwing engages the two, <<Heather, got two heat signatures in the vault, only one way in or out, so we can use that.>> He winces as he rolls into position to swing a knee, <<Supergirl, if you need to, there should be a clear spot in the bay to dispose of it. It's not ideal, but it can work. Not sure if the vault can hold it if we chuck it in there?>> The last bit bore a bit of his concern and uncertainty, as he is unaware of the payload of that laser going nova.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara can't believe she didn't think of that. Her heat vision cuts in again as she neat slices through the cable connecting the laser to the battery. It doesn't turn off. It pulses brightly as it increases in its intensity and the metal of the laser itself starts to glow bright orange.

"The bay, right!," Kara says. She looks over to the vault door and walks over to it, the laser crackling as it starts to burn through her concrete. She points it at the door and it immediately starts to glow red hot and even begin to melt. "Be back soon!," she says and flies off carrying the laser pressed to the door.

The guy shooting Heather certainly expected she'd take the bullets, but not take them so easily. As it seems she's not going to go down with his gun and he needs to reload, he lets go of it and pulls out a six inch bowie knife and take a combat stance, ready to dance with the knockout. The kick between his legs is met with a pained grunt and a thrust of his knife toward her heart. He's wearing a box down there.

The intense heat of the laser is gone, though the ground where it was drilling is still a bright spot. They track Nightwing through his tumbles, though he's just slightly faster than their ability to keep up with him. One of the robbers makes a rash move and jerks his aim trying to lead to where Dick is moving, which results in him peppering his fellow bank robber with bullets. He is knocked to the ground by all the bullets hitting his vest.

The two in the vault, now satisfied they have pushed their luck far enough exit the vault. The one with the backpack makes a dash for the exit while the head bank robber takes the moment to gloat, "Well it's been fun. Bat boy and Blondie you've been absolutely charming. Too bad Supes had to leave, but now I must too, this party is over."

Heather Danielson has posed:
    "Oh a cup huh?" asks Heather. "Don't you know that those just make it so jagged plastic rips you up?" she asks as she holds a hand out and catches the blade by the knife by letting it stab through her palm, and then she closes her fingers around the guard and grip, yanking it away from the guy before she goes for a super strength knee strike to the cup. What? The guy pissed her off.
    She goes so far as to grab the guy, and eye the one fleeing with the backpack.. and she turns, steps towards that guy while gripping the guy's arm and shoulder.. and then does a textbook judo throw to send her target flying towards the backpack runaway.
    "Captain Monologue is all yours Nightwing." she mutters as she turns to give chase to the rucksack runner just in case he didn't go down in a heap.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Friendly fire isn't," Nightwing grumbles to himself as one of the robbers bowls over the other. The remaining robber with a gun in front of him is soon rushed and Dick will attempt to strike him in the sides, while constantly moving and hopefully going for a trip, since they are heavily armored, he is not expecting to take them down easily with his escrima sticks, but they are not immune to tripping. After this attempt, he hears Heather's response and teh monologue from the boss robber.

Dick nods to Supergirl as she departs and turns his attention to the leader, now a little tired of his talking and aware of Heather leaving the room so... he presses a button on his mask to deal with high volume and chucks a flashbang wingding at the feet of the boss. "You may juts want to lay down now, otherwise you might hit your head." Nightwing notes in mock courtesy.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara flies in to the bay, crashing in to the water at high speed. Just in time too as the laser finally goes super critical. The explosion explodes water up out of the water, the shockwave hits the shore and transmits enough power through the city that a minor tremor can be felt.

Kara is knocked back so intensely she struggles to hold on to consciousness, everything going black. She begins to sink down in the water like a rag doll. The water eddies and pulls, a vortex sucking her and the vault door down to the floor of the bay.

The robber shouldn't pissed off Heather. That mighty kick cracks the box and his attention to head butt her is suddenly stopped. She took away his knife, he was going to go hand to hand, but knee to crotch was superior. He drops groaning in pain. But, his trial isn't over as he's thrown at another of the bank robbers. The fleeing robber is nimble though, he side steps comrade and says, "Sorry bro, you know the rules."

The boss bank robber makes sure his backpack is on securely before he draws his twin hand.. ray.. guns? they look like a very weird design, with little dishes on the tips instead of a barrel for bullets. As the flashbang comes flying toward him, he shoots the one in his left hand at the projectile. The explosive little puck bounces off an invisible force with greater speed shooting away rom him.

"Wow you bat types really have bat for brains. Did you really think I wouldn't be prepared for something like this. Shockwave guns. You can buy the best toys from New York ever since those aliens invaded. Ta ta!," he says and uses the left gun to fire at Heather as she tries to make chase, the intense pulse is like a shockwave knocking her away from him and his partner in crime's egress.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    She was on her way to chase the backpack runaway when the shockwave struck her, and Heather is sent ass over teakettle into the far wall. In fact, her impact cracks the wall. She is however, willful and durable. Not to mention strong.
    "Remind... me... to get... throwing weapons." She mutters into her comm as she finds herself pinned there. But.. then she pulls the knife from her palm and hurls it with all of her might at the boss baddy.
    Her aim is both awesome and terrible at the same time. But one of those two shockwave guns ends up getting bowied. The knife blade striking the dish and barrel assembly... hopefully giving enough of a break for Nightwing to at least stop someone... and then Heather falls to the floor in a limp pile. Still healing, but she needs maybe thirty seconds of recovery as that shockwave hit every part of her body at once.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Bat for brains? Really? Is that the best you could think of?" Nightwing retorts. He is not happy that his usual plans were foiled, but turnabout is fair play. He moves to interpose himself, but it is too late, Heather has since reacted, though at least for the runner, Dick sends a parting gift. From his utility belt, the former Robin pulls out some balls that he quickly spins over his head and throws what appears to be a bola at the runner, though the main threat is still there.

Once Heather has thrown the knife, though Dick does finally interpose himself between her and the guy with the shockwave gun, taking a couple of quick breaths since if he can't stop the guy, he can at least stop him from hurting his teammate.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara can hear her heart beating as she sinks in to the deep dark of the bay. The distant light above twinkling like stars as she remembers her mother Alura putting on her battle armour. Beautiful white tight fitting clothing with the House of El crest worn proudly on her chest. A belt, a ray gun of some sort she puts in to its holster. She turns to face Kara and gives her a hug, "It's going to be okay sweetie, your father has a plan and I promise you, //promise// you I will stop Zod." A shockwave rumbles through their feet as Krypton shakes, continuing to erupt in its demise.

The ground beneath her hits her back, or she hits it and the big vault door lands on her. She is stunned awake and gasps for breath, taking in a bunch of water as the shockwave on Krypton in her dream and the shockwave of the laser blast coincide.

The boss robber keeps his eyes on the heroes as he makes his exit. The bolas, he sees, and he lifts up his left gun and shoots. They whirl through the air and divert off against a marble wall with a clutter. A different marble wall to the one that Heather just dented. The damage to the building is something that'll be tallied later.

He has a smirk on his face though it drains rapidly as the knife comes flying through the air and cuts through his shockwave gun. The knife embeds in something hard inside it and it makes a puff of blue smoke, "You! No! MY shockwave gun!" He holds up his right gun and points it at Heather, then Dick steps in front and he scowls.

"You're lucky my daughter thinks you're cute Nightwing." He departs the bank in to the bright sunny blue skies of Metropolis... and then spies the Wingcycle, "Yes, but she won't cry too much if I get a bit of payback." He points his gun at the Wingcycle and fires, then gets in the get away car with the other bank robber and the driver and they speed off down the street. The sounds of police car sirens begin to fill the block as they arrive.. too late.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    Sitting there, head lolling to one side, Heather tries to muster the strength to stand. She slumps back down and says, "Okay. Just need a few more seconds." as blood sloshes over her lip and down her chin. "I'll be fine. Just... need a little bit. That gun hit me like.. in my everything." she mutters, leaning her head back against the wall behind her.
    "Is Supergirl okay?" she asks, her eyes shut, but... bloodshot. So many blood vessels burst in her body. In a normal person, she'd be mortally wounded. "God. I'm hungry." she adds absently.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing sighs as the man makes that comment and then hears a shot in the direction of the Wingcycle. He looks down to Heather and nearly offers a hand up before she makes her comment, "She should be all right. Well, at worst there's always food back at base, but it's probably pizza. You rest up while I secure the others." Dick begins zip-tying the others, really hoping that his Wingcycle is not too badly damaged. (He's hoping in vain, definitely going to need to carried back to the Tower for repairs). "You just rest up and we'll get this sorted out. It could have gone a /lot/ worse."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara opens her eyes and pushes the heavy door off of her and shoots up in to the sky. She coughs up the water and gasps for breath. The sun beats down upon her and she flicks back her wet hair, throwing open her arms and letting its warmth fill her with life even as the tears flow down her cheeks, indistinguishable from the wet of the bay still lingering.

Half coughing, half crying, she wraps herself in a tight hug and shudders ... Metropolis? or.. no. There is a sonic boom in the sky above the bay as Supergirl flies north to the Fortress of Solitude.

The Wingcycle is half way down the street partly battered and crushed as the police arrive. They storm in to the bank only to find the upstanding Titans recovering from the fight. They see Nightwing has already secured the four bank robbers and take them in to custody.

The bank is a mess, but Nightwing is right, it could have been a lot worse. For now.. the monologuing bank robber and one of his crew got away.