6249/A Backwards Night at the Opera

A Backwards Night at the Opera
Date of Scene:	17 May 2021
Location:	The Met
Synopsis:	Sif wins the day! With only one dead and a few injured! But she totally kicked Zoom around! Because no way was this a ruse by the evil Zoom in any way so the victory is hers completely! Right? RIGHT!?
Cast of Characters:	Sif, Harrison Wells

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Sif has posed:
The gossip started almost the moment Sif arrived. First mystery speculated about: what kind of woman walks to the Met in an outfit like hers? Because she didn't come by car, by hansom, nor even by horse. No, she appeared out of the darkness, striding purposefully to the Met without a car in sight, just a few minutes after that unseasonably weird lightning or whatever that lit a few blocks away.

Second mystery speculated about: who was she? The wealth drips from her form in the white, red-accented gown, the diamond and platinum decorations ... pretty much everything. Even the hairdo.

Third mystery speculated about: why does she have season tickets, halfway through the season, with a private box usually set aside for genuine VIPs -- the people everybody knows -- when nobody's ever seen her before?

Final mystery speculated about: Why is the private box she has tickets for associated with the Avengers when she's clearly not one of the Avengers?

Whatever the mysteries, however, Sif is here, she's got her drinks (the usher delivering the cart being tipped with a fifty ... that has blood stains on it), and she's ready to watch ... Let's check the liner notes.

Die Walküre. By Wagner. Someone has a wicked sense of humour.

Oh. And as the ticket sales are stopped she calls to the usher: "It is wasteful having this box with one. My ticket says eight persons. Find seven more from those who were just disappointed."

That's seven lucky people who will unknowingly be watching opera with a goddess.

"Seven unmonied people."

Seven POOR (or at least middle class) people who will ... You get the drift.

Harrison Wells has posed:
It isn't often that perfect opportunities present themselves. Going after Asgardians for what he needs will be a gamble, but he has been monitoring Thor and those associated with him for some time... and tonight, Eobard has finally managed to find a target; Sif, coming out of nowhere to a crowded Opera full of potential hostages to distract her with.

It's more than enough for Eobard to take the chance. Donning his Reverse-Flash suit from the ring he wears, red lightning trails behind him as he goes from Metropolis to New York, going just fast enough to keep off most modern sensors. He phases his way into the second floor of the Met and into one of the empty booths, vibrating himself invisible briefly as he cases the entire theatre; potential entries and exits, locations... and where Sif herself is. It takes a second to process it all... and a second later, he begins to run in a circle inside the booth, Red lightning visible as he buils up a charge.

There's no way that isn't seen.. and no way that's not intentionally obvious.

Sif has posed:
The lightning building in a booth across from Sif's (and seven random guests) does not go unnoticed. Tragedy might have been averted had she not... well, let's tune in to the booth.

"Oh, thank you so much Ms..."

"Lady."

"Lady?"

"Yes. Lady. Lady Sif."

"Thank you so much Lady Sif."

"It was nothing. I ... that red light yonder, is this part of the presentation? I don't recall Thor being present for Brynhildr's saga. Is this part of the license that is issued to artists?"

"... What?"

The significance of the electrical charge, in short, is not noted, though the charge building up is. She assumes it has some relationship to the opera that's about to start, the orchestra having stopped tuning and the conductor tapping his wand on the podium, raising his arms to begin.

Harrison Wells has posed:
It's around the time that wand is raised that the Reverse-Flash stops his running... and flings enough a lightning bolt powerful enough to stun even Superman right at Sif from across the way. It may or may not arc off of her to hit the civilians around her. Does he care if it does? Apparently not.

As the lightning bolt is tossed at her, Reverse-Flash stops facing Sif on the opposite booth. To her enhanced eyes, she can barely make out a man in a yellow suit and with red, glowing eyes with energy drifting out of them like smoke through a speedster level blurring... and he's looking right at her, observing the results.

Sif has posed:
Sif is fast. VERY fast.

For an Asgardian.

Against someone on Speed, she's ... well ... fast. In the same way that an ant is fast compared to a snail when a human is watching both.

So she's not fast enough to dodge lightning, though years of sparring with Thor has given her some impressive abilities there. The bolt aimed at her chest, through violent wrenching of her body to one side (impacting the woman on that side and sending her, and the other person along the row, flying to their good fortune), hits her just to the left, on the shoulder, away from her heart, burning a nasty hole in her skin (and, worse, ruining her gown!).

Lightning needs somewhere to go, and her leg, extended for balance as she moved, touching the row of seats' metal frame, provides that exit point. The two people to her right that got sent flying by her sudden motion? They're unharmed outside of bruising (and possibly a cracked rib).

The person to her left, the one that was so effusively thanking her (and getting confused) was not so fortunate. Lightning arcs from Sif's leg (the exit point burning flesh as well, but fortunately it was the leg that was left bare so the gown is unharmed there) into the frame of the seat, and then from that frame through the gentleman in question before finding a path to ground.

The man's heart is stopped violently. His death comes moments later as he violently twitches, flops, and then lies still.

Again, Sif is fast. VERY fast. For an Asgardian. Her right hand finds one of the two daggers she's concealed on her covered right leg and she's rolled into a crouch, stance altered for the injured leg and shoulder, and is on her way by air to the booth where the attack struck from. Any human watching would barely be able to follow.

A speedster, however, will ... ant vs. snail. Same simile. Only in the air.

Harrison Wells has posed:
He stands there. There's no attempt to dodge as Sif comes at him. Is the man toying with Sif? It seems so, because once she leaps into him, he dodges to one side, just barely avoiding her daggers.

He's not moving from the booth... but any attempt to attack him with those daggers is dodged by the man in a small afterflash of red lightning that this close up can be seen flitting all over the mans body.

The Reverse-Flash finally speaks after a few moments of this, "You're tougher than I gave you credit for." The speed distorted voice conceals his true voice, but the tone and the words are clear; contempt. "No wonder they trust you to come to Earth."

Sif has posed:
The dagger strikes start off quick and vicious. Then quick and fancy as she gauges Wells' ability to dodge. Then they stop, Sif in a defensive stance, daggers still at the ready.

And crisped flesh beginning to noticeably close.

"Your magics serve you well, magus," she snarls, "but such magics always come at a price. Let us see if you can bear the cost."

And she starts again. This time instead of attacking she's manoeuvring, tactically, pushing Zoom into a corner, if possible, by forcing him to dodge the directions she wants.

And then not pressing the attack.

Instead she's going to use her stamina against his, gambling that his speed drains him. Badly. Whereas she could do this literally all day, non-stop, without even feeling warmed up.

If (and it's a BIG if!) she can catch him trying to escape she will try to cut off that avenue, with one dagger while forcing him to dodge the other. Otherwise she attacks with both in ways that force him to move a lot to avoid.

Harrison Wells has posed:
"Magic? You Asgardians have been involved with Earth affairs for years, and you still think magic is the answer to everything." Reverse-Flash actually does stop when she 'corners' him. Unfortunately for her, the Speed Force that infuses him is infinite and everlasting... so his stamina is not an issue. Not that she knows that.

Still, keeping him cornered does give her a decent look at him. The red eyes aren't natural of course... and she can see a human in his features. The blurring isn't enough to stop seeing the symbol on the chest of the yellow suit; an exact reverse of the Flash, if she pays attention to other teams.

"My speed is the result of years of trial and error with the primal forces of the universe. I am a scientist, not a magician." He almost sounds /offended/ at the suggestion of magic. A bit of pride in his ability?

Sif has posed:
"I care not what name you give your magics, I have no truck with sorcery!" Sif keeps up her routine without the slightest hint of slowing down, throwing in other moves here and there to try and take Zoom by surprise (to no avail, naturally, like an ant can't really surprise a human with a tricky move). She does begin to wish for more substantial weaponry, mind, but operas would likely have a problem with her bringing a sword and spear to a vocal performance. (They probably would have objected to the daggers had they known of them.) "Call it what you will, it is still the tool of cowards and the lazy!"

One certain Prince Loki would like to have words with her about that outburst. If he were present, that is.

"Be glad that it is I and not Brynhildr you face, or your magics would long have been drained from you leaving you the weak, sniveling coward you are!"

There's method to her madness. Or vice versa. Enemies who are emotionally off-balance are easier to fool. And with that she tests to see if he is, feigning a dagger strike, itself feinting for another dagger strike, where in reality the desired attack, masked behind the two, is a knee to Zoom's gut and, if it can be landed, an elbow to his jaw.

Harrison Wells has posed:
Being a sociopath, emotions are not a thing that really matter to Eobard... not that it matters. He came here for a reason. He's not going to get the answers he needs this way without a bit of theatre. Magic being drained? An enemy can sometimes reveal too much of their own intentions trying to throw their hunter off balance... and Eobard finds a good way to potentially do the trick.

When she goes in for the 'kill', he sees it coming, of course. You can't outspeed a Speedster, and Eobard is The Fastest Maniac Alive. It's like watching a video in slow motion, that knee to the gut.

It's an attack that gives an opening in the psychological nature of this attack... and he takes it, allowing the gut hit to connect while two punches are finally thrown at Sif... one of which tags the back of her neck with a nano-bug. Soon, Sif will be the unwitting transmiter of Asgardian discussion. The other punch actually lands on her face... and with the Speed Force augmenting his strength? it actually HURTS a bit.

Whoever this man is, he hits like a truck, and she never saw it coming.

The Reverse-Flash, on the other hand, gets sent flying off the booth to the ground, allowing himself to be flattened out on the ground as if he was actually hurt... before he disappears in a flash of red lightning. Gone.

Sif has posed:
There's just no pause. None. Not at human scale. The neck blow grazes her as she desperately tries to move out of its way, incorrectly thinking she was successful. The face punch sends her flying, despite her great mass, and smashing into the wall behind her.

Seeing Zoom's fly and fall from her knee to the gut, however, is all the rallying she needs. Like a war machine (which in ways she is) she's on her feet and jumped, perching at the edge of the booth, in the air, two daggers out and ready to take Zoom's life ... only he's long gone before she's even over the edge.

The savage beauty, scorched, bleeding, and now bruised across her face lands on the floor where Zoom was, her two daggers penetrating the flooring deeply but no victim beneath them.

For a moment there's dead silence.

Then a confused patron starts to applaud what they think is the entrance of the performers. This spreads into a small smattering of applause scattered by bewildered patrons doing it autonomously.

Then the dead body in the box she'd vacated is found and the screaming starts. And the panic. And the end of a night at the opera, Sif style.