4420/The Curious Case of the Easy Button

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The Curious Case of the Easy Button
Date of Scene: 16 December 2020
Location: Arkham Island
Synopsis: Bane attempts a jailbreak at Arkham. Batgirl gets the worst of it and finds out what that 'For Emergencies Only' button in her Batgirl suit's heads up display does.
Cast of Characters: Stephanie Brown, Kara Danvers




Stephanie Brown has posed:
<< Uh guys? Anyone? Backup? >>

Stephanie Brown's voice went out over the Batcoms, along with a soft groan from hitting the ground so hard she rolled a good ten feet before stopping. As before, no reply came. A flurry of situations around Gotham had the Bat crew with their hands full tonight.

The matter hadn't seemed at first like anything that should need backup. Some strange traffic near Arkham Asylum that had triggered some minor alerts in Oracle's algorithms. Just something to check on, as likely to be someone moving into a new store as an actual issue.

"What's the matter, little girl. No one coming to help?" a deep voice says as heavy footfalls approach. Stephanie stifles the next groan and mentally kicks herself for having spoke loud enough he could hear. She does a karate flip back to her feet, just to not let him know she's hurting as badly as she is.

Bane. He pounds a ham hock of a fist into the other. "I thought you were a redhead," he says as he stalks after the crimefighter who caught his crew preparing to tunnel into Arkham to initiate a mass jailbreak.

Batgirl brings her hands back up to a fighting position. "I was feeling a bit blond today. Why, you know any good jokes?" she says before throwing a roundhouse kick. Bane sees it coming and blocks as he was meant to, Batgirl already pivoting, using the momentum of his block to spin her back around and deliver a hard kick right to his family jewels.

Bane barely even blinks. "Really?" she says incredulously. Bane just laughs at her, ripping up a parking meter and using the chunk of concrete on the bottom end like a club. Batgirl lunges to the side to evade it as it smashes into the ground where she'd stood.

In her heads up display, down in the very corner where she rarely looks, is that little "Emergency" button. She's never hit it and not yet found out exactly what it does. The early briefing on her suit just mentioned they'd get into it later and not to use it. No, no, she's got this. Now how to get at those tubes pumping that juice into Bane that makes him strong?

Kara Danvers has posed:
The holograms have spread out throughout the room. Strings of Kryptonian glyphs flowing vertically. Images too, technical descriptions. Historical accounts. "No," she says with frustation tinging on the edge of her voice. "Not shielding in general, specifically, the Argo City shielding project by Zor-El."

The artificial intelligence replies politely, "There is no record of such a project."

Supergirl paces back and forth and casually waves a hand at a big group of glyphs. They scatter and disappear. "Earlier prototypes, discussions by the high council, anything?"

The AI replies politely again, "There are no records of any Argo City related projects by Zor-El, Kara Zor-El the answers you seek are not available in Jor-El's recordings."

The glyphs disappear and a hologram of Alura Zor-El appears. Her mother, dressed in a long flowing white gown and a clip at her shoulder of the House of El symbol in gold and black.

"But it is possible. For a shielding system to be constructed that could withstand the destruction of Krypton?," Kara asks the avatar of the AI. She knows it's not her mother, she's gotten used to seeing her like this.

"Without more data about the nature of Kryptons destruction, that question cannot be answered."

Kara shuts her eyes and thinks back to family dinner a year before the destruction of Krypton. Her father and uncle Jor-El discussing things. She quiets her mind and she can almost hear them talking. She can see their lips moving and in her heightened state of power on Earth.. she guesses.. Gravity Waves.

"Restart simulation, focus on massive gravity wave disruptions from Rrao."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Speed was supposed to be the key. When they are big and slow, you be small and fast and hit them in their weak spots.

Only Bane was big AND fast. As fast as Batgirl as the flurry of strikes from her bo staff were each blocked aside by an arm or leg that didn't seem to care about the impacts. Stephanie jumped back again, the concrete club of the parking meter barely missing her.

Batgirl whips flash pellets at him, creating a concussive light show around his head to disorient the big guy as she follows up with razor-sharp batarangs aimed at those hoses. But he ducks out of the way even as his eyes are clearing as if having expected the maneuver, and lunges forward.

"Crap!" she says aloud to help bait Bane in and then turns to run. She can hear his heavy footfalls right behind her as instead of running into the alley, Batgirl runs up the wall and flips backwards overtop of Bane. This is it, the chance to grab those tubes on her way past!

Only a beefy hand reaches up with remarkably fast reflexes. He grabs Batgirl out the air, gripping her by the shoulders and rump and slamming her downwards, where his upraised knee meets the small of her back.

Batgirl is in too much pain to make a sound after the back-breaker, which only fell slightly short of its name. She crumples on the ground where Bane drops her as he moves to stand overtop over her. "You thought you could stop me, little girl? The greatest ever trained by the League? Now you will become a message sent to the rest of Gotham," he says.

Batgirl hits the button.

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Simulation complete," the hologram of Alura says. Kara lets out a breath and says, "And?" -- The hologram replies, "It is unclear of Jor-El constructed such a device, but a device of this nature could survive Rrao generating gravity wave anomalies."

Kara steps back from the mess of glyphs surrounding her and draws in a breath. But.. a Kryptonian can never truly catch a break, not on Earth. She hears it - the noise she knew meant 'help!' from a very select few chosen by Kal.. or probably more aptly chosen by Batman. The screech in her ears is faint, it's all the way in Gotham and she's in the Arctic.

The sonic boom is dragged by her super speed as she flies with both fists out in front of her. A look of determination on her face as she races across the ocean. No time to alert the DEO of her high speed incoming.. and she's going straight in to the city she's meant to stay out of.

The signal gets easier to hear the closer she gets and she narrows in on it. It's then she sees the big man. The BIG man. Bane. She's never heard of him before or seen him before. Whatever his shtick, he has Batgirl. Didn't she have red hair?

It's clear to her he means to kill her. A big foot coming for a stomp. She doesn't stop to land, instead she flies straight in to him and knocks him back against the wall, then turns and offers a hand to Batgirl, "You called?"

It's one thing to see video footage of Supergirl on the news, but here she hasn't even yet realised it's Stephanie. This is a side of Kara Zor-El that Steph has never seen before. She looks confident and determined. Even as she's offering a hand her head is turning around to look back at Bane, gauging his next move.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie takes the hand, rising with her back making a 'creak' that is audible enough to her at least. Backs aren't supposed to make that noise are they? At least before you're eighty?

She wipes at a trickle of blood from the corner of her lip as she straightens. "So that's what that button does," she manages to say aloud. Her costume has a few tears in it which she ignores as she turns with a slightly staggering step towards where Bane is himself getting back to his feet, having broken partway through the wall from the force of his impact.

"You are so in trouble now," she tells him, a hand going to her back.

Kara Danvers has posed:
"Ah, the little Super," Bane says as he re-evaluates the situation, "Let's see if you're even a twinkle in the eye of Superman." He pulls himself out of the wall and then makes a 'come at me' motion to Supergirl.

Like a bull to a red flag she scowls at the man and shakes her head, then approaches.

Kara isn't the martial arts expert than Batgirl is, but usually she doesn't need to be. When a punch from Bane comes in, she blocks it and his body visibly recoils from the rebound. A kick is thrown next and instead of blocking it, her feet push in to the ground, cracking the pavement as the glass nearby shatters from the pressure she generates from flying but not flying. His leg hits her in the side and she doesn't even move.

Kara loops an arm around his leg and with a swift motion, spins and throws him back against the wall. "I didn't catch your name, but you should start thinking about surrender at this point," she says and stalks toward him with her mouth pressed together tightly.

She wasn't expecting him to bounce back so quickly, but he throws a punch at her as she throws a punch at him. The two fists meet with a shockwave and Bane does a 720 spin on the spot from the impact. She can't help but notice how he's barely hurt at all by it though. That's.. concerning. "Please don't make me hurt you," she says with genuine worry that things could get out of hand.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"You are a more worthy opponent than Batman's fledglings," Bane says, as if he's relishing the chance to match himself against someone as powerful as a Kryptonian. He slides the valve open slightly more, allowing additional Venom to flow within his veins. His muscles might seem to visibly bulge even larger as he smacks a fist into his palm and grabs large chunks of the broken wall, throwing them with full strength at Kara's head, just to distract her as the then charges forward, aiming to tackle her with a shoulder into her gut.

Bane's men hadn't joined in while he was handling Batgirl so well. But as they see he has his hands full, they set down their equipment and pick up their guns and rush forward. The first one gets off a shot at Supergirl. But only one, as a batarang clangs into the gun and knocks it off aim. Right behind that comes a fist to the man's chin that spins him around and lays out him as Batgirl was closing the distance even as she threw the weapon at him.

Her body is groaning with pain but she pushes it down as four of Bane's hoodlums close in around her. Not simple paid criminals, these men have at least some level of League training, probably from Bane, and soon Batgirl is forced into blocking attack after attack, only landing her own hits when opportunities are presented.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara blinks in surprise as he just gets... bigger still. Then he's throwing bricks. BRICKS?! who throws bricks. She lifts up her arms to protect her head. Those things can hurt. She doesn't see Bane coming at her like that and he tackles her, shoulder first. There is an audible 'oooof' from Kara as and Bane crash in to the opposite wall.

One of the problems with fighting him is his arms are sooo bulky now, it takes two hands to wrap around his one. Which she does. She pries the arm off even as he attempts to squeeze the air from her lungs. It'd work with his strength, no doubt, but it's not like she hasn't held her breath for quite a long time in space.

"Sir I really advice against," she says with a grunt, "This." And throws him over her shoulder and in to the ground with a loud thud. And still he doesn't stop. He throws a punch even from that posture and she catches his hand in hers and grips tightly. A bullet hits her side and she is distracted momentarily to look over at the guy who shot at her. Batgirl already has him disarmed. The bullet ricochet off and hit a building. Phew, no bystanders got hurt.

Bane punches Kara in the gut when she's distracted and she oooofs again, giving him space to stand back up. "You're a persistent one aren't you," Kara says with annoyance, "Come on, let's hug it out. You and I can find common ground I'm sure."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl ducks a knife that slashes towards her head, and blocks a punch at her side, pivoting and throwing a stomping kick into the chest of the knife-wielder that sends him flying onto his back and gives her more space.

A smoke pellet slams into the ground, sending up a plume of dark blue smoke to obscure the vision of her attackers. The sound of fists and feet striking bodies comes from the smoke, along with groans of pain from deeper pitched voices.

Then all goes silent and a form slowly takes shape emerging from the smoke. Batgirl steps out, moving with a visible limp. "You should listen to her, Bane," Batgirl tells him as she continues moving their direction.

"Listen to her?" Bane scoffs. "I thinking of those blond jokes," Bane says, eyeing Kara's golden locks. "Today is a day to be celebrated. The day Bane showed even aliens fall to him."

With that he strides forward, unleashing a relentless series of attacks at Supergirl, moving with speed and strength that no human can match. But then Kar Zor-El is not human.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara gets a look of confusion on her face as the man charges back in again despite all warnings from her and even Batgirl. He is yet another in the long list of criminals who wish to test themselves against her. And so she lets him have it. She can see he's going to take a lot more than a regular person to stop.

A block, another block. A super speed move back a step to have another punch miss. "I'm really sorry about this," she says to the big man and gives him a hug around the midsection. He's meaty, but she gets her arms around him. Then she squeezes and looks up. There's his chin, but she cares more about the skies.

With a womphf she takes off in to the air holding Bane tightly. Up up and away, all the way up to where the air is thin. She bear-hugs him even as she feels his hands beating down on her undefended head. Now -that- hurts. She ducks her head in to his chest and slowly the punches become softer and softer until his body goes limp from the lack of oxygen.

She floats back down to the ground and lays out the unconscious Bane on the ground. "We hugged it out," she says with an amused little smile on her face. Her eyes look over Batgirl with confusion. That voice, that heart beat, that height and body posture. That's.... Stephanie? She confirms it with her x-ray vision and gets a look of utter surprise on her face, "Nooo... you're Batgirl?" Then a look of utter delight.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
After watching Supergirl fly off with Bane, Batgirl turns her attention to the henchmen, moving over to secure them. By now a squad from Arkham has pulled up in a SWAT-style panel truck, hopping out and running over to help her in arresting them.

When Supergirl returns back to Earth with an unconscious Bane, Batgirl gives a hrm. "Why didn't I think of flying him up to where he'd pass out? I really need a Batgirl plane," she says as she walks over to join Supergirl. "Thanks for the help. Hope I didn't call you away from anything important," she says.

She crouches, though it looks like it costs her some pains to do so, and begins unfastening and removing Bane's pack of Venom. "He should be safe to secure now," she tells the Arkham men once that is done.

Finally she straightens again. Slowly. Ow. Ow. Ow. And faces Supergirl again as the other woman realizes who Stephanie is. "Yes. As of a couple of weeks ago," she says, trying to say it casually. But she really can't from her voice the pride and elation that she still has over it. "A lot of training and proving myself to get here," she says.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara's eyebrows raise as Batgirl suggests she needs a bat plane. She has no doubt such a thing could exist, but now she's not sure how that would have worked out for her against this man. "It was nothing that can't wait," she says and offers her hand to Batgirl. A smile too. "I'm glad you called. That guy was something else. He hit hard," she remarks and hears the name 'Bane' from one of Arkham security.

"Bane? Well. I.. I'm sure glad he's safe now. I was worried I'd hit him too hard and hurt him," she says and looks down at him with concern, then her eyes flit back to Batgirl and she smiles again, "I've no doubt you've earned it. You made quick work of the henchmen," she says and looks at the lined up criminals.

She whispers to Batgirl, "Did you really press a button that you had no idea what it'd do? ... honestly, that's the first time I've heard that alarm. Superman told me about it, but it really grabs the attention. It's so loud."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Batgirl gestures towards the unconscious man, whose muscles are not quite as large as before. Granted, he's still huge by normal people standards, but as the Venom slowly processes out of his system, his body is returning to something more normal. "The Venom he pumps himself full of gives him some pretty incredible strength levels," she says. "I was trying to stop the flow of it, but he's pretty protective of it as you can imagine," she says.

A soft laugh is given, though it costs Stephanie apparently judging by the soft groan that it turns into, a hand going to her side. "Yes. Still learning the suit. My old one didn't have any of these integrated systems. We were still getting to that one," she says. "Glad it was there. Thanks. You were a lifesaver today. And I'm kind of fond of my life, so... thanks."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara rubs at the back of her neck as she eyes the tubes and has a small laugh of embarrassment, echoing what Batgirl said not moments before, "I wish I'd thought of that." She could have just ripped them out and he'd have 'deflated'. But, she had no idea what they were and her brain didn't even consider this might be a chemically induced state. She's not going to admit her mind was elsewhere though.

"Says Batgirl," she says and nudges her shoulders just a touch, playfully, "If you need me, apparently I'm only a single button press away." She grins and gives a small little wave to Batgirl and lifts up in to the air. She turns, one foot resting on her inner knee, cape and hair whipping in the wind, "Again, congrats. I'll be seeing you around - Batgirl."

Her fingers spread wide as she reaches her hands up in to the sky and she flies away. A reporter down the street shoots several shots of Supergirl as she flies away and remarks, "Hoooo yes, jackpot."