5231/Forgotten Children

Forgotten Children
Date of Scene:	17 February 2021
Location:	A warehouse by the New York Harbor.
Synopsis:	Hero rescue children that were being auction off. Cinque stole financial and information from their servers.
Cast of Characters:	Cinque Evers, Cassandra Cain, Ted Kord, Heather Danielson, Lester Colt, Tandy Bowen, Zatanna Zatara, Natasha Cranston

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Cinque Evers has posed:
From the outside, it just looks like yet another warehouse down by the docks in New York with a few security guards posted at the door, and some non descript vans parked nearby.

But on the inside?
On the inside, there's a big difference.
There are a large number of large warehouse crates strategically placed throughout the warehouse to create a maze. On top of sixteenth crates that make up some of this makeshift crate maze, there are three guards with assault rifles. Along with these eighteen guards that have the high ground, there are another twelve guards roaming through the maze.
Once a person departs the maze, there are two men in expensive looking business suits just standing next to two different ?stages? set up with podiums. There is a huge screen that covers half of the back wall of the warehouse. On the screen is a constant live feed of the kidnapped children, every two minutes the feed switches to another child. The feed zooms in and zooms out on each child, listing any important details that might incite buyers to raise their bids, from anything from suspected mutant powers to the ability to sing.
There are several more guards placed around the stage, and it seems there are two super powered individuals placed near the back room, revealing the location of where they are keeping the children.There are also few people with pads to receive the winning bids from this evening?s patrons.
The rest of the warehouse floor has several rows of chairs and a large bar serving all kinds of drinks and substances for the bidders that are brave or seedier enough to attend the auction in person. The only other things in the warehouse are some computer servers helping to run the radio system that the guards are using, the security and video screens, and computers that take the financial transaction and receiving bids for people that are off site.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Normally, she doesn't like to use other people's intel to find a site. In this case Babs was pretty helpful though, so she's allowed it. Cass had routed the info that Oracle intercepted to the Birds, given how important things are likely to be on this job.

Looking down from above, she finds herself glad that she shared the information. There's a lot of kids down there, and some could be hurt if she simply strode in like her usual MO. But, clinging to the ceiling of the gigantic warehouse, she peers down at the guards. Not counting, she's merely pickng her location to insert herself.

If anyone else got the intel, that's cool too. More bodies mean less ...bodies.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord is enjoying his new Bug smell. The Bug Mk 5 is cruising along. It legs give a languid stretch, testing the servos. A cold night is the World's best policeman. It's quiet for a change. Ted cruises along slowly in stealth mode. Nothing really on the sensors... holy shit! That one 'abandoned' warehouse? It has a shit ton of electrical activity coming off it! That must be shady at this time of night. He turns on the thermoscanner. What the actual hell? Very odd.

The dorsal hatch of the Bug opens. Ted steps out and down and deploys his aero-disks and begins a stealthy flight to the warehouse, wary of look outs on other roofs. This might be big. You never know.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    What happens when you are in New York City for a charity fundraiser and you are an active member of the Titans? You get ... THE CALL... Heather was giving her speech at the local museum, being basically the face of a national charity aimed to get girls out of trafficking situations and reunited with families and such.. either way, she was wrapping up her speech when her phone buzzed.
    Good thing she does not maintain a secret ID. All she had to do was finish the speech, answer the call and then explain that she had Titans business she needed to attend to.
    That was a bit ago. In the last few minutes, she parked her rental car and got out in her all black full bodysuit. What? It's not stylish, except for being skin tight. But it -is- warm for winter months. In summer, she'll go strappy and revealing. Right now she likes the warm outfit. Approaching the building, she sent a text to Titans Tower informing them that she was on site, and asking them to give her contact info and frequency for her Titans comm, to anyone else who was reported in the area helping.
    So here we have a model-skinny blonde teen in a catsuit on the sidewalk. SUPER SNEAKY HUH?!

Lester Colt has posed:
     High above the warehouse flying through the skies is small remote controlled aircraft. A jet fighter scaled just right for a 6 inch tall GI Colt figure. And at the pilots seat is none other than Doll Man, zipping through the skies in one loop after another as he enjoys his time off flying through the city streets at high speeds.

     He zips down towards steet level flying between the struts of a street lamp covered in snow. It's his time off and he's going to enjoy every last second of it, he zooms down towards ground level before pulling up at the last minute into a loop-de-loop that brings him out at the end into an aileron roll pulling hard on the G-forces before sliding down to a stop on a bit of flat roofing as his plane begins to beep away signaling time for a quick recharge before heading back.

     He pops the canopy once the plane has slowed to a stop hopping up and over the side in his full winter urban camouflage, grabbing the quick charge station from its packaging inside the back of his remote controlled plane. It's only as he starts to set up that he notices the presence of armed individuals nearby on the building causing him to take pause.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
The air grows colder upon the top of the roof of the warehouse, shadows pulling together in a dark swirl. Cloak and Dagger appear on the roof, followed by a twinkle of light that appears in the young woman's hand that forms a slender blade.

Tandy's breath comes out in small clouds upon her lips as she takes a moment to assess their situation, then gives a glance over her shoulder to Tyrone. "I'm going in, meet me on the inside once you secure the perimeter. No more will we allow them to steal these children and sell them like furniture. We've worked too hard for this."

The dark man bathed in shadows gives a silent nod to his partner before he disappears in a whisper, leaving behind the angel of light as she makes her way towards the edge of the roof and towards a fire escape to being her descent. Where most may start at the bottom, she'll start from the top. A window will be found and entered. From there, she'll stalk her prey.

As usual, she wears her bright white leotard with a torn white denim jacket over her person. She'll move silently, looking to take command of the high ground so that her blades can do the most work from the shadows.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
It takes a little bird whispering to a bigger bird for important news to travel. It so helps that Zee's already in town thanks to a seasonal bash she attended, but Babs' warning leaves her dropping a brush onto the vanity. Confirmation goes winging back to Cass through the same central repository -- Oracle -- that she's on her way.

Not that anyone is too bound to notice her, since 'her' is in fact him. A gentleman in a bespoke black suit doesn't stand out among other auction attendees. A bidder who can slip right in, as need be, among those who are brave, bold, and utterly stupid. It helps she knows enough folks who count as seedy. Whatever security rundown they have here, Zee in disguise has the identification to go with her hidden personal. For all the world, she's Alexander Pelle, tied directly to the Ndrangheta of Italy, and that's a fact rooted in truth for all the illusion of identity is just that.

Getting into the warehouse is one thing. Confirming via back channels and encrypted notes to Cass <<I'm in>>, quite another.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
        "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

    Trafficking in sentient beings is an evil all in its own category. Trafficking in /children/ even more so. Of course, those who still successfully engage in the practice understand the value of operational security, and it took irritatingly long to crack the case. Natasha had just managed to successfully tie together a number of kidnappings to a shipping company - not one of hers - whose operational budget didn't quite match up to its stated profit reports when a mostly anonymous tip was left at a dead drop confirming the location and time of the auction...

And now, The Shadow Knows.

    Even with the light traffic this time of night, a lone cab obviously on his way to either a pickup or a drop-off attracts little attention and less interest, and if they slow down to take a tricky corner, who cares? It's not as if anyone was in a position to notice the door opening briefly -- and even if they did, they didn't see anyone get out.

    Yes, there are guards at the door, but then there always are. The Shadow contemplates them for a moment, then decides that until the children are secure it's probably not wise to alert anyone by their sudden radio silence. Instead, she waits a moment longer until an opportunity presents itself and slips in through the door while they look the other way.

    Once inside, she flits from shadow to shadow, relying on those spots of inattention that everyone has even while they deny having them, looking for a higher vantage point to plot her approach...

Cinque Evers has posed:
There are no guards on top of the warehouse. The people who created this auction do not want to draw too much attention to themselves. They are a bit overconfident or perhaps they just believe that no one cares about these children. With the falling snow, no one is noticing the heroes dropping in on top of the warehouse.

A woman in a tight catsuit on the sidewalk does draw attention to one of the guards, but is the type of attention that causes him to whisper some rude jokes to his partner. Their jokes about Heather makes them easy targets for her, and for Lester Colt.

One of the auctioneers motions for the crowd to take their seats, "Greetings, we have a lot of interesting morsels for tonight?s auctions. All bids are final, and there are no refunds after accepting your product. The Auctioneer adds, "Of course, no one leaves the warehouse until the final bid. As she says the words, the guards go to a heightened state of readiness. The video screen lands on the first child as the second auctioneed starts to speak, "All right, Product number 2038 is a 14 year old girl that has been in custody since we found her in Towson, Maryland. She is deaf, and very submissive. I will begin the bid at 1 million dollars."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Shadow to shadow, darkness to dark patch, the moving shadow finds that the dark spaces near the roof may not be quite empty, and a person in her space. Finding a way to approach the maskless woman who clings there, an inattentive moment, would be a challenge even for her vaunted abilities.

But it matters not at all. This one is a shadow who also waits for the moment to come, for the feeling in the air to be right. There is a look on her face which suggests that patience is limited, but she watches her compatriot and fellow berb below. Disguise means nothing, not when you're getting messages from Zee anyway. She reaches up, taps her earbud to verify. Message receieved.

But then her head lifts. She can hear..something. Something outside, something she can't quite place. But a glance about, and she nods. And the time becomes right.

And with the decision clearly made, she starts the chaos. By releasing her hold on the roof, and plummeting toward the floor far below. When she lands, she lands in position. Quiet, but some may have seen her motion.

But now the children have a guard in place.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    In fact, noticing folks noticing her is one of Heather's specialties. She grins and turns to saunter their way. "Hey guys. I'm a little bit lost. You see, I'm from Metropolis, and I was supposed to be at a costume party and got totally turned around."
    She grins and moves a bit closer, shoulders lifting in a shrug. "Can you tell me how far I am from Fifty Seventh street?" she adds a bit more softly as she gets within reach. "I mean I parked down that way.." she says as she points to her right.
    Then her left hand comes about and slugs into the left hand guard's gut before she lifts her right leg between the right hand guard's legs... with predictable results. She pulled her strikes so that she didn't break these guys but.. she was not trying to prevent them from being harmed. Also, she wasn't sneaky. She made noise. So there is definitely some level of distraction coming her way.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord hears the part about putting in bids, relayed through the Bug's scanners to his head set. Someone put out a web comic about him that started pretty much like this, but then the Blue Beetle just bought all the kids and...

Took some doing but he found the guy and now he does toons of funny animals. The Beetle's mouth sets in a firm line as he finds an unattended window. Then Orphan crashes through a window and ever the opportunist, Ted breaks through the window and grabs the guard who turns to see what the matter is. You. don't get scolded and rebuked by Batman without learning a few things. The guard and his weapon vanish through the window without a sign.

Fuck spiders. Beetles can be scary too.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
As she stares down from rafters near the ceiling, Tandy is tense. She listens to the auctioneer and the response from the crowd and feels her blood boil in her veins. Swallowing tightly in her throat, she flips a dagger about in her hand a few times, then gives a visible tremor.

By now, this is like breathing to her. Let the adrenaline flow. Let the anger be your compassion. Pull the fire out of your gut. Take aim. Let it fly. Strike down those who defile and harm the innocent. Take out those who fill the city's veins with poison and cancer.

"You have allowed greed to blind your heart! Now, I will blind you with my light!"

The voice comes from the dark as a twinkle of light can be seen, followed by the blur of a light-sped dagger soaring through the air, aiming for the back of the head of the auctioneer.

"You have poisoned this city and I am the cure!"

So dramatic. As she leaps down and lands, she rises upwards slowly, putting herself on center stage as she begins to burn like a hot sun. She caught wind of other heroes. She may as well draw the audience to her, let them strike from the shadows.

Lester Colt has posed:
     Lester walks his way away from the Tiger II as it rests atop the roof. He looks down to his wrist at the time listening in for the sounds of his surroundings. "It's my time off." He mutters to himself as he walks to the edge of the rooftop checking once more on the straps of his jetpack to ensure that it's locked firm into place.

     He's still only six inches tall as he moves to the edge of the roof but he can't just be inactive. No he's got to do something. He drops off the side of the roof and kicks on his jetpack for just a moment thrusting himself forward at the flagpole on the edge of the warehouse.

     Using his momentum he swings round and round the pole kicking the pack to speed himself further. Just as he starts to get dizzy he lets go catapulting himself through the partially open window and up onto the rafters inside of the building sliding across the ground with a light skidding as he comes to a skidding halt to see what's going on inside.

     "Worst comes to worse it's some dealers and I head h-" He goes silent as his eyes lock down on the scene down below his expression falling flat as he skids to a complete stop against a metal bar holding up the ceiling. His hand reaches down grabbing off his Laser Rifle from its holster flipping it on so that it can build up its charge.

     <Anyone read?> He offers onto the usual SHIELD frequencies. <This is Agent Colt, just stumbled across some human trafficking at following adress, looks like children over.> He would read out the address sending it back to his handlers. This wasn't typical SHIELD business but at the very least he wanted to send out the message all the same. <Looks like we got capes going in loud get ready for a cleanup.>

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Being elbow to elbow with human traffickers and slavers should send anyone's skin crawling. Zatanna is not immune. Doesn't matter if that suit comes from Milan and the finest wool acts as a shield, it doesn't do a damn thing to protect her psyche from the chilling reality of another frightened child protected on a screen. One deaf at that. Behind the unsmiling masculine face, hidden inside that equally masculine guise, she tilts her head up to the screen like everyone else. The wrongness of it all reinforces those keen details, like if the girl's held with zipties, chained in place, malnourished. Facts to extract later.

Not the first seen here. Every two minutes, another new victim. The auctioneer's cruel pace sets in the resolve.

A thump at her side is comforting. One Bird in place. For all the world, "Alexander" expresses the barest interest in his surroundings. Brooding, dark eyes and a narrow mouth look on human chattel like any other good for sale on the market.

Then someone comes crashing through the building, a burst of light swiftly flung through space. On that meat market floor, caught in the crowd, one spectator finds the impressions of power hard to miss. They're practically yanking her away from the moment. On the JLA lines, a whispered curse: "An interruption. I'm just the messenger." Ted ought to get it. Cass, certainly, echoed over. They too might hear the Italian murmur, the telltale inversion.

".iliggetorP"

With an invocation, energy blooms. One dome after another, swiveling around every child she's seen projected for sale since "Alexander" walked into the building that while back.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The old adage that no plan survives contact with the enemy somehow neglects to mention that unexpected allies showing up can be equally fatal. Natasha only takes a brief moment to lament it before moving into overdrive. With no more need to avoid disruptions, she grabs the nearest guard from behind in a sleeper hold, and pilfers his radio for personal use before he quite finishes losing consciousness. She fits the contact into one ear to listen in on the chatter while she looks around briefly.

    The warehouse's official layout was in publicly available blueprints, and there is a limit to how much you can rearrange the interior without drawing undue notice, which means the only viable location for the central control area would be... There. She sets off, flitting from shadow to shadow, occasionally decking an unlucky armed guard before he has a chance to take aim at the glowing woman on the floor, and makes her way to the control center. Warehouses like these have the ability to lock all exterior doors from a central location, and it would be very convenient if no one attempted to leave before the police arrive...

Cinque Evers has posed:
The auctioneer that was not brought down by Dagger?s light remains calm amidst all of this calamity and gets on the radio. ?Destroy all the products! Leave no trace that ties back to us!? Upon hearing the command, one of the super powered goons watching the room with the children flips a local switch and the room begins to fill with nauseous gas. Lucky for the children in the room that Zatanna?s spell is protecting them, and the gas has not a dangerous level to affect Cassandra either.

As the doors open begin to open, Heather and Colt are able to freely move inside, but they have to prepare the security guards that have now moved into position to fire upon them.

Dagger?s presence has caused the guards by the stage to rush the stage along with a few guards that were in the maze too. Some of the patrons that indeed have a touch of courage also try to bring Dagger down

The rest of the guards in the maze are rushing towards the server and the control room to confront the Shadow. They are joined by a superpower brute who leaves his post believing the children are being dealt with.
Chaos is running wild as guards are prepared to shoot at anyone that is trying to rescue the children, and to cover some of the bidders escapes.

There is some snow begin to fall through the window that Ted dragged someone through. A few snowflakes gather on the brim on Oletha Ukufa?s cowboy?s hat as he fires his modified Navy Colt Revolvers at the guards on the warehouses, killing some and providing cover fire for the heroes that are coming through the front door.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord jumps to problem solving mode. The room with the kids needs ventilation, fast. Fortunately he has the answer. His BB gun can send a stream of air to knock down a wall or send men flying. He aims it at the door, ready to let up on the intensity the second the door is broken down. Not the best solution but if that's andro-cynanide those kids have seconds. A flying door is the least of their worries and he can knock it down from a distance and disperse that crap harmlessly. He hopes it works.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
As she burns hot like a star, Dagger stands defiantly in the middle of the room as a trio of blades form between the knuckles of her left hand. Her blonde hair is wild along her shoulders, eyes sharp and icy as they are blue. She moves into action the moment the guards start converging upon her. The three blades is sent out swiftly as she leaps over a crate, landing on her feet gracefully with the moves of a ballerina.

As bullets rein down towards her, they are swept away in a hiss of shadow as Cloak appears in front of her, opening his capes wide to reveal only the dark, eternal prison that will soon be their hell. Only his face can be seen from behind his hood, scowling with a dark, primal sneer upon his face. He bares his teeth much like a wolf, the pushes off in a whisper of noise. Two guards get swallowed, their screams snuffed out before he disappears again in a swirl of motion.

Using her partner's distraction, Dagger forms another blade, looking to find a new target.

The two vigilantes know each other's moves perfectly by now, as if they share one heartbeat, one soul. Each having the other's back.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    It's simple. Guards are ahead of her and Heather grins. She rolls her neck and strides forward. "Come on boys. What's the matter? Not so brave when a girl fights back, eh?" she asks.
    Then she's charging into them. Sure, she can block and such when it comes to close combat, but mostly she just lets folks hit her because it doesn't do much good. She heals as fast as she gets hurt. Stab wounds closed by the time the blade is ready for another strike. That's another reason for the catsuit... it's self sealing. Not to keep blood loss to a minimum. But just so that it doesn't shred and show the world too much skin. Yeah, she's weird that way.
    But plowing through the guards isn't the hardest fight she's ever had. It's just time consuming. Walls get cracked with the force of her strikes that miss. Or with the force of folks she throws into them.
    She moves inexorably forward towards the central area. If some gas would hurt folks, her body pretty much fights it off just like her fists and feet fight off the guards.
    So finally, that last door leading inwards, to the chamber where the auction -was- taking place... is kicked open as if Spider-Man himself kicked it. And Heather lets go of the last unconscious guard... allowing him to flop to the floor as she says, "Anyone else?" Yep, she's an attention getter for sure.
    For those dark and light vigilantes, she might be annoying, but she is certainly capable of being a distraction.

Lester Colt has posed:
     Colt slowly takes aim with his long arm lowering it into position. He fires off a single shot with a low pew noise as blue light fills the room a single laser round firing from the rafters from whence he sets. The light blasts from on high aimed directly towards the man calling out the bids set to Stun rather than to kill. After all dead men tell no tales and if you can capture someone alive you can get quite a lot of information out of them through some good old fashioned interrogation.

     The six inch high man dives over the edge of that little support beam and hovers in place to get a better angle. As he hovers on the spot he grows larger up to his full height of 6'6" tall so that he can try and take out, nonlethally, as many of the buyers as he possibly can before they can run away.

     "Never give up!" He calls out with confidence. "Never say die!" He adds. "Walk tall with your banner high!" Coming from seemingly nowhere as he attempts to draw some of their fire as he fills the crowd with a hail of blue laserfire. "Fly GI!" He shouts loud and proud as the flash of lights fill his face screams filling the air as he works his magic.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
A superpowered being in the way of the door makes Ted's attack difficult to pull off. They are notorious for making things annoying for heroes, especially since the Tank-type are so easy to hire for dark things. The door holds, but largely because there are obstructions in place to stop exactly such things. The villains want this to happen, and are ready for such.

There are sounds from inside, with the gas clearly filling the room. A banging on the door from the inside, a child's scream. Then, silence, ominous as death. Final, and very, very predatory.

Which is not what you'd see if you were looking at the room from the other side. Where you'd see the emergency exit leading outside get busted open, and two guards suddenly finding themselves engaged with a force of nature. The children scream as they are led past; one guard hangs from the fence, his head bleeding from multiple, efficient strikes from a pair of metal knuckles on Cassandra's fist. The other guard is stumbling the wrong direction, a bucket over his head.

Silence in the room, save for the rising gas? It's hard to make noise when you're leading children out the back alleyway.

She heads to the rear of the children, preparing to deal with the super powered guard that's left. She hit him and it didn't do any damage. So..a challenge then.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Kids are covered," "Alexander" murmurs into that watch that's not a watch. The dual broadcast goes to Orphan in motion, relayed doubly over to Ted. Benefits to small things as Zatanna cringes back from the stage. "Get them out."

Her own retreat is something of an equally inconvenient matter. All around the magician, would-be participants in kidnapping and modern-day slavery respond in various ways. Some push their way to find protection among the crates. A few probably flee for the doors and whatever ugly heroic response awaits them there. That much chaos all around feels rather unpleasantly like being on the receiving end of the Justice League's attention. However stylish, however cool, she is no Batman.

Not when people fling light knives or shoot lasers. To them, her external appearance matches every other nasty person here. Though it's all for themselves or fleeing back to their security details if any thought to bring them. Rather than reach into that suave suit jacket, she jerks her hand down and releases a slender black baton from seemingly nowhere. Just a bit of sleight of hand until some weathered, equally well-dressed man runs into her with his shoulder. She spins, barely on her feet.

Fear's an ugly thing to see reflected in someone's face and a quick shove pushes the criminal away into another's path. Let them squabble, she needs time to move. Flight takes her straight for a crate, searching for a clearer line of sight. Of course, a hero might objectively think the Italian businessman is fleeing until that white-tipped baton is spun, pointed. "Blue Beetle, do you have an eye on the children? I need them close together for a fast escape." The illusion twists, dances, threatening to come apart. Her voice warms out of that cold register, feminine, as she releases the spell.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The operator who switched on the 'disposal' system is the Shadow's first victim; a decidedly un-gentle kick to the temple knocks him away from his console and consciousness alike.

    The guards rushing into the cramped control room get one glimpse of their opponent - a tall, dark figure in a black coat and opera cape, features concealed by a slouch hat and a crimson scarf - before a pair of gunshots shatter the light fixtures and plunge the room into darkness with mocking laughter echoing from the walls.

    The superhuman 'muscle' is learning rapidly that all the strength in the world doesn't help when you can't see your opponent, and the laughter grating on his ears seems custom-tailored to drive him into a rage. It's a painful lesson, especially for everyone in his immediate vicinity.

Cinque Evers has posed:
As Cloak and Dagger rain down justice on the guards and bidders foolish enough to keep attacking them, the warehouse becomes filled with their screams. The superpower individuals that are guarding the children are not moving after their battle with Cassandra.

The combination of the protected spell and the air that Ted pumped is giving the children much needed relief. Cinque has carved a bloody path through the guards to make it to the servers and starts to download the data on them. The last person that considered being in charge yells on the radio, ?Blow the warehouse! Unleash our exit strategy!? The crate that is directly in front of the one that Zatana?s stand explodes to reveal their exit strategy! A mutated seven foot creature, an experiment of a previous product. He picks up a one of the boards of the crate and begins to charge Heather.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
As the pair of vigilantes continue to mix it up with the guards, Dagger is acutely aware that other 'A and B' list heroes are saving the children. That's fine by her. For tonight, she wants to dish out punishment. She wants to deliver cold justice to those who seek to harm children.

As she continues to dance through the battle, she leaps upon a crate, then jumps forward, sending a high kick square into the jaw of a guard, then drops down upon his chest. "BURN!" Her voice rings out as she drives a glowing hot dagger straight into his forehead, causing the body to 'jolt' beneath her as his eyes flash with light. "And know that you have been judged."

She spits venom on the end of her tongue as she pulls the blade free, watching the man's body grow limp, but still breathing. Whatever hopes and dreams he once he, she stole them from him, leaving him as empty and terrified as their victims. As she rises upwards, she bares her teeth and sends out another spiraling blade towards the last auctioneer, looking to ensure that he does not escape. He'll be struck in the back, his feet coming undone out from under him as he topples from the stage and cracks his head along the edge upon the way down.

Thoughts and Prayers. Jackass.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Leaning close to Dagger, Cloak shields her from an incoming attack. He does so without effort, a movement of a single arm to send his cloak out, grappling an arm. But he speaks, and he says with softest of tones, "Tandy, I'm needed elsewhere. I can feel it." He doesn't pause then, spreading his cloak about himself. "I'll be back," he says, his eyes shining in the absolute darkness that envelops him, before he vanishes from the field of combat in an implosion of nothingness.

Out back, Cassandra slams her fists into the big man she's holding off from the kids. She's bent her titanium knuckles on him, since he tore the bucket in half from his head. Throws have done nothing to him thus far, and he seems to plod closer with every passing moment.

The children are behind her, backed into a corner. "You alone, girl?" he asks, reaching for her. She ducks under his hand, punches him in the joints. It does nothing.

"Stalling," she says.

The big man reaches for her again. Misses. "Whut? Stalling? For who?"

J"For me," the darkest voice says, as his hand stops. Then gets pulled back, into the darkness that is Cloak. And Cassandra watches, her eyes shining. As she taps a 'mission successful' into her comlink.

Cloak returns shortly, but Tandy seems to ahve it under control.

Ted Kord has posed:
Here's the thing about the BB gun. The flash mode makes no noise. The air blast is noisy AF. So some of what Zatanna says is lost in the blast. Beetle sees the doors stay up. He hears that one forlorn cry.

Something snaps.

He lets out a very sharp whistle. People with superhearing hate when he does that.

Who cares?

Then he's in the air on his shiny aero-disks and blowing into one of the tanks. His aero-disks lead the way into the creature's diaphragm. he's not really seeing it. He's seeing Doomsday. As the creature opens its mouth to gasp he rams the BB gun int0 it, grabbing the back of the monster's neck.

"You need some fresh air!" He fires his air blast into the monstrosity's mouth, watching its chest expand.

"You m***********s are all dead! Do you know how much firepower I have hovering outside!" Almost simultaneously a large metal insect leg begins tearing at the roof.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Despite repeated calls to blow the warehouse, the commander isn't getting an acknowledgement - or any response, even. Until finally, mocking laughter fills the comm network.

    "I'm sorry, but the control center is... Offline for the time being," comes the Shadow's response. "It would appear some great big brute with a temper problem used his head to damage the consoles beyond repair after the lockdown was triggered. I'm afraid that if you want to blow the charges, you're going to have to come over here and do it manually..."

    The laughter trails off again into silence, with only the occasional grunt or groan in the background.

Heather Danielson has posed:
    "Really?" asks Heather. She turns her baby blues about the room, almost ignoring the guy charging her. "Wow, you guys are thorough." she admits. Then she shakes her head and adds, "Almost nothing left for a girl t'do." And that's when she turns and braces and smashes through the crate with her shoulder, bringing up her fist in a ten ton uppercut.
    The sad truth is whenever she uses her full strength, it causes as much damage to her as to her target. She just heals so fast it's hard to notice if you are watching with an outside viewpoint. But she catches the seven foot monstrosity under the jaw since.. his charge had him bent lower than normal. Her entire hand shatters as she strikes the jaw... lifting the beast off its feet with a resounding *WHAM!* that may as well be on the screen like in some old Batman show.
    When she recovers from the force of the blow, she's already healed most of her hand's damage and she readies in case that didn't put the guy down.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Is anyone shooting at the Italian woman in the stellar suit? She'd like to think not. Those excellent low boots fit at least. They give purchase on the crate as Zatanna hauls herself up to the top, probably grateful for all the times Batman has made her climb, descend, and climb again.

He might get a thank you card in the mail. Maybe. Right now her concern is not being hit by stray gunfire from anyone taking potshots at her or actively targeting the now black-haired woman rolling sharply to the side.

No one can afford to stay still. Old lessons hammer through her head, her father's voice ringing in her ear. Once they used to do this for fun. Now it might be to save a life. Save it or spare it.

The wand shivers in her fingers and she snaps it up, pointing at the hole now punched in a wall just in sight. Back there, Ted fights. Others do too, but they are blurs in her vision. When the opening comes, her scrambling and keeping low against the maze of crates, she seizes it.

                     "Sag emoceb sselmrah sa retaw ropav.                     "

The world bends to that will, the mage's eyes going a bright ultraviolet shade. Sparks burst and cascade like fireworks within that sickening gas. Fumes chased back to their source helpfully start to smell like the fogs shrouding a waterfall. Wet, clean, pure.

Cinque Evers has posed:
As the chest expands from Blue Beetle's gun, Heather hits the mutate with an uppercut that lifts the creature in the air. When the creature lands, he explodes sending blood and guts flying around the warehouse. At the center of the blood and guts, there is a small 5 year old child curled in the fetal position whimpering to himself. "I don't want to be a monster anymore! I just want to go back home to my Momma!"

Cinque finishes downloading all the contact information to begin tracking the bigger players in this criminal enterprise. He empties the bank accounts of the auctioneers, and those who bidded on the first child. Cinque erases all traces of his presence. A search of the servers will reveal vague contact information for others to use for their investigations. The combination of the Shadow destroying the control center to prevent the destruction of the warehouse and that eerie laugh has caused the remaining guards to realize that it is time to flee.

The head of security raises her assault rifle at the direction of the control panel and fires several shots into the darkness, but doesn?t dare go into face whoever is laughing in the darkness. She turns and runs away, "The warehouse isn't going to blow! The products are still viable. They didnt pay us to take all of this heat"

Her words would have cause a more tactical response from the remaining guard, but the roof ripping open has caused a few guards to throw down their weapons in surrender. A couple of guards tried to finish their contract by eliminating any bidders to keep them quiet, but they were brought down by Dagger's light..

The air is dissipated by Zatanna?s spell, and there is a safe passage for the children. The children are able to safely be able to vacate from the warehouse. In the distance, police and ambulances can be heard in a distance.

Tandy Bowen has posed:
As the rest of the guards fall to Dagger's blades, and or swept up in the folds of Cloak's dark dimension, the pair of vigilantes are standing back to back, with the angel breathing heavily. She looks tired and drained, but, the children appear to have been rescued and taken care of.

"Let's go, Ty."

Her voice is a soft whisper as she steps closer to him, feeling the comfort of his cloth sliding around her shoulders and ushering her into the dark, where she can hear the panicked screams of those he had captured through the night. Their fear tugs at her heart, but she refuses to give them their light as she passes through the shadows, watching each of them succumb to their greatest fears.

Some of them are being murdered by their boss. Some of them being used the way that these young girls would have been by larger, stronger men with sandistic glee upon their face as they seek to satiate their own lust. She can feel the tears streak down her cheeks as the world closes around her, swallowing up the noise.

Gone. Silence. They leave the warehouse, the pain, and the chaos behind them.