6739/Spirit of Teamwork

Spirit of Teamwork
Date of Scene:	28 June 2021
Location:	Metro City Music Hall
Synopsis:	The Gentleman Ghost brings along an ally to carry out his plan. What he doesn't plan on are an angry hawk, a sprinkler system, a giant mallet, and a hoodie willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. And some kicks.
Cast of Characters:	Michael Hannigan, Joseph Gardner, Remy LeBeau, Jon Kent, Terry O'Neil

---

Michael Hannigan has posed:
The scene inside the Metro City Music Hall tonight was chock full of energy. The opening act of The Junkyard Gang was received rather well. The co-headlining acts of Boston Zombie and Nick Drago also received their share of appreciation. But like all good things, they come to an end and there is a mass exodus of people leaving the building.

Not part of the numbers, Nick has made it backstage and is currently situated in the dressing room marked for his group, wiping away makeup while the rest of the supporting group bustle about grabbing their things.

"We're going to go get burgers." The color changing drummer states to the head of the group, "You want to come?"

Nick gives a slight nod, grabbing at another wipe "Yeah. Just give me ten and I'll meet you at the car."

Good with the answer, the drummer nods, "Alright. Meet you out back."

Arrangement made, the remaining members head on out leaving Nick to deal with getting cleaned up.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
The Gentleman Ghost or a similar specter was recorded streaming down the street in Queens. Hawkman knew that sartorial spirit would be back, despite his and Drago's efforts. Playing a hunch Hawkman has quietly been tailing Drago, watching over the musician. Which brought him to Metropolis. Boy are his wings tired. High above the city from a nearby tower he scans the streets, perched on an eagle statue, aware of the irony.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
    The back door was cased out perfectly. The concert was about as interesting as expected. The cameras are obscured enough that a figure waiting at the back of the door would be able to slip in behind a raucous band leaving that way.

    The Cajun slips into the doorway after the band slips out of it and he's got a bit of work to do tonight. It's a miniscule heist and quite victimless. As the money has already changed hands, and the only people now that are going to be hurt by it's theft are the banks and the big guys. The producers and the runners of the music hall.

    Nearly victimless.

    Remy reaches up with his hands to the hood at the back of his neck and it slips on, and the lanyard he's procured with 'ROADIE' on the front and back helps him look quite the part as he moves behind the stage with plans to get to the front and get into a few registers.

Jon Kent has posed:
     Jon had saved up some money to go to the concert himself kinda funny that it was his third concert ever but technically the first.

  Good times were had by all while the bespectacled Jon Kent had watched his friend perform, never forgetting the advice Nick gave him while waiting to fulfill a child's Make-A-Wish. It was a memory he would never forget.

  Jon started walking out with the gaggle of other concert-goers, but of course, he didn't vacate the premises immediately.

  Metropolis of course was a safer city than Gotham. Especially at night, no one really wanted to do petty crime while Superman and the Titans among others were on patrol.

  So, there he was, Smallville Crows hat on, a black hoodie, and some fresh jeans with those red Chucks on his feet.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry knew Drago was in town, and had thought of dropping by after the event to say 'hi' and check up on things. How does someone like Terry know Nick Drago?

Easy! He was the man of his dreams!

Actually, that is not entirely true. He was /a/ man in /a/ dream, but the dream itself belonged to Robotman, and there were other men there, as well as women. But one must sometimes stretch definitions for the sake of a joke, and a little stretching never hurt anybody. Just ask Plastic Man.

In his Cheshire shape, it is easy for him to slip backstage by virtue of invisibility, once someone opens the door. He had briefly considered Rabbit Holing into the dressing room to startle the hell out of Nick as a prank... but he decided against it because Nick might get cross and decide to jam him into Dreamland somewhere absolutely terrifying- like the dream-realm of the Kardashians, or something along those lines. He does have /some/ survival instincts, after all.

He's not very familiar with the backstage world, however.

"... dressing rooms..." he mutters quietly to himself, skulking around. He had managed to find a restroom. An empty secondary break room. And a room that might potentially hold the Blair Witch, or it was merely faulty lighting and a storage room, hard to say...

Michael Hannigan has posed:
It had been a simple plan. Abduct a rockstar right before their tour was set to start. Considering the much publicized friendship between one who assumes the stage name of 'Nick Drago' and the owner of the very label he was signed with, it made the decision simple as well. Friend or business asset, Wade Shaw had more than one reason for paying when ransom was due.

The timing was perfect. Mr. Hannigan had been alone walking from the school he apparently has some sort of arrangement with. With Craddock's own supernatural talents it should have been easy to make a musician like him to comply. But then Hawkman showed up. And then, that dream world with that-

He's not sure what was more insulting. Was it Hawkman showing up once again in his long afterlife to foil his plans? Or being subjected to the burning heat and flame of a baby faced sun? No. What probably was the peak of insolence was that sun had the AUDACITY to giggle while he was toasted like an air puffed lump of sugar. All that while a little red trolly tooted it's horn as it rode by his smouldering form.

The nerve of it all. Taken out by PBS.

And to add to it. He was turned down help by Satana and made to suffer more indignities!

But far be it for him to just give up. If anything this slap to his honor WILL be avenged. And even though Hawkman's not here to learn from it, Mr. Hannigan will soon know that no one, NO ONE will make James Craddock come off looking like a fool.

...Twice.

The unseen ghost is patient, he's been patient. Lingering for hours and during that time already determined which of the rooms to monitor. Upon seeing the rest of the band start to vacate from it, He stepped in via the wall. Watches the musician continue with his stuff in the mirror, a realization triggers unseen sneer.

Perhaps that request earlier wasn't even necessary.

This won't do at all.

Craddock emits a haughty laugh, suddenly appearing, cane held high "You think you have gOOF!-"

The chair at the makeup table falls to the floor as the man who was using it is now on his feet, facing the gloating ghost. Arms up, fists formed and one arm extended where Jim's monocle used to be. The expression on the musician's face was not quite fear. More determined annoyance. "You again?! Get the Fuck away from me!"

Such language.

Now. Not to say a ghost appearing in a dressing room without is frightening. But. All the more reason to punch at it when it starts up the evil monologues!

The cracked monocle sways back. Oh bugger this. "Otiosum!"

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman is bored perching. He steps off the eagle ornament and his wings sweep out. He does a short dive then hurtles toward the venue. In an easy glide he uses his enhanced vision as he glides past the windows.

Oops sorry ma'am. Hawkman blushes a little -lots of windows. He almost sails past Nicks, then hears.. oh such language. Wings snap out in a braking movement as he finds the window and scrambles onto the ledge. The mace is already in his hand.

<Tap tap tap> "Mr. Drago?"

<Tap tap tap> "Mr. Drago?"

<Tap tap tap> "Mr. Drago?"

Remy LeBeau has posed:
    The cajun has NO IDEA, any of this is going on.

    The man in the black hoodie and the lanyard signifying that he's a roadie is here on a not so dastardly capper. He starts to look for a secluded space in order to change into much more traditional Thieves Guild recommended gear and clothing. Which, isn't hard to find when you open the first door you find and ... "Excuse me." He says in a very thick New York accent that doesn't at all sound totally fake.

    Remy takes a pause to look at the man holding his fist into... nothingness and shakes his head before mouthing the word 'Crazy' and moving to close the door again.

Jon Kent has posed:
     Jon didn't mean to hear what he heard, but the response from Nick was loud enough that his ears picked it up. It was there in the crowd that he started to jog his way out, once he was clear of the group, he zipped down his black hoodie to reveal: another hoodie! This one showing the House of El emblem, in the bold colors of blue red and yellow. "This is a job for Superboy..." he comments, once around the corner, removing his hat and glasses with super speed, and placing his clothes in a high up spot where they won't be disturbed.

  A streak of red wooshes by as Jon runs toward the danger, and to his friend's dressing room. He did not bother with the door, he smashed through it, messy hair and all. "Mister Drago?!"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Finally, there is something that gives Terry the beacon that he needs- Nick's cursing. He can definitely recognize Nick's voice with his very acute hearing. And he's definitely heard Nick cursing before!

However, the Cheshire cat doesn't really know what the dressing room looks like, so he doesn't know how to do an exact Rabbit Hole into it- he tries, though, but Chaos is a harsh mistress, and as he dives through the Rabbit Hole-

*THUD*
"OW!"
Then, the door to the broom closet down the hall from Nick's dressing room bursts open, and Vorpal clambers out of it, running towards the dressing room.

He's also carrying a mop, and there's an upturned bucket on his head. We'll say it's an improvised helmet. Yes. That's the ticket. "I'm coming!" he shouts. Just in case people did not hear the clambering and clattering that came from the upturning of the cleaning supplies.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Call to his lif- *ahem* unlife-line made, the Ghost continues to back up, bringing up an arm to gesture towards Nick quickly. While it may not be a hand gesture to match the crude language that was slung at him. The pistol that appears in his hand with the hammer lifting displays the appropriate sentiment.

Eyes widening, Nick makes the informed decision not to remain in the path of the receiving end of such a device. Instead he does his best to move away quick. "Shi-"

Well, hopefully Nick enjoyed that first swing at Jim Craddock because the added offenses is not improving that ghost's mood, following the musician's movements before pulling the trigger. It is by sheer STUPID luck that Nick does not get hit by the bullet as it comes out. Instead hitting the wall beside the window. By even STUPIDER luck, it wasn't the side of the window Hawkman was on, leaving a hole in the wall from the size of the blast.

In this chaos, a broad sized figure simply pops into the room, giving off a scent of brimstone with the entrance. Well, one could hope it's brimstone. The yellowed skin, red eyes, and misshapen ears probably help support the idea of where the offensive odor came from. But the time for asking questions of this newcomer does not appear to be now as his glance twists about, seeing the fleeing performer and the newest entrant to the room, the cajun on the other side of the opening and hearing the shouted promise of arrival

An assessing glance is given to Jon before he speaks quickly. 'Resistance is futile that you should know; These chains will bind you, with us you will go.' With a quick gesture towards the musician, a reddish glow flies towards him, as it comes in contact, the light coils around before taking the shape of chains. It is not a graceful landing as the singer trips, and skids along the floor into the wall head first

The demon turns, looking towards Jon, giving a jagged smile.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman says, "Oh.. not on my watch!" Two to one is bad enough but when they're a ghost and a demon?

Hawkman smashes through the window, on purpose /this/ time. One wng comes up to shield him from pistol shots as he strives to close and bring nhis mace down on the demon. There's a little bit of Khufu telling him to do that. He never fought a demon before. Generally a mace to the head does the job quick. "Raaaaaaaahr!" Forgive the lapse. Hawks don't growl.

Remy LeBeau has posed:
    Remy looks over his shoulder as a man wearing a bucket goes running past and into the room. "Uhhh, dis one o' dem cosplay t'in's?" The cajun asks with a raised eyebrow but shrugs before he can get his answer and then... the sound of breaking glass. And now he's curious.

    Remy lifts a foot in front in a heavy step but pauses and curls around on his heel like a dancer and starts to walk back.

    Opening the door after Vorpal is in, the cajun's jaw drops and he really wishes he had some popcorn and he can't help but think, 'Maybe Kurt knows these guys? Nah.'

Jon Kent has posed:
     "Gentleman Ghost? Alright, what the h-" Sniff, sniff? "Okay, who cut one?" Jon comments before turning around, and seeing the source of the stench.

  Jon suffered through the Etrigan poetry before his eyes widen at the glowing chains enveloping Mike. The half-Kryptonian marches over to this demon, balling up his fist. "Like heck he will!" Throwing it to the demonic stankypants' chest, still not realizing just what he is going up against. But to heck with it, he is trying to take his friend, darn it!

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Bereft of the bucket, the Cheshire cat is better equipped to appraise the situation. Superboy is here! Yay!

Clearly supernatural creature is here. Oy Vey! One of the things he knows about the Superfam is that magic and mystery are not part of their history, and heaven only knows where Gummiberry juice fits in all of /that/ hot mess.

But there is also... a winged man coming through the window. Terry spends a lot of time around people with wings nowadays, it seems. Superboy does seem to have good reinforcements in the shape of Hawkman there-

But the important thing in any fantasy campaign involving sorcerers, he knows, is to stop them from kidnapping the Princess/Prince/Plot Device, and the chains around Nick definitely look like a kidnapping attempt.

"Stand back!" he says to Remy, clearly taking him for Innocent Bystander #245, and extends his hands, "I am never quite sure what this will do, to be honest."

Aiming at the glowing chains, red with demonic magic, he releases his burst of chaos magic...

Only Randomia, goddess of chaos and amusing outcomes, knows what will happen.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Jim chuckles as the musician lies stunned, "Vengeance comes with the heat of a thousand baby suns..." He starts to point the pistol towards the captive but the sound of breaking glass causes for the ghost to turn. Finding the new entrant, also on his list and not trussed up for later, he redirects his aim, pointing the gun towards the entering Hawkman. "AND A THOUSAND MORE FOR YOU!" Another hand comes up, producing another ghostly pistol to increase the amount of explosive ghost-dinance being expelled as he follows the winged warrior's run towards Otiosum. The mirror at the makeup table shatters, causing for even more noises. If the explosions were not enough to indicate BAD STUFF WAS GOING DOWN.

As Jon rushes over to punch at the demon. Otiosum does not seem to be too bothered by it. Taking a single step back, he laughs, bringing up a fist of his own, swinging it towards Jon. The amazing timing by Hawkman with the mace, does end up benefiting Jon as Otiosum's side vision takes note of the incoming weapon. The fist grazes Jon's arm as Otiosum swings back to avoid the hit.

Vorp's directed attack at the chains does help as they vanish off of Nick. Through the broken window there's the sound of clattering, screeching and a crash along with the sound of a high pitched "OH MY GOD!"

Giving a goan, the musician turns his head to see the scenery going on. Giving a slight grimace, Nick rolls along the floor, kicking out a leg to sweep Gentleman Ghost's feet. Not used to people being able to do that, the ghost ends up pitching forward, faceplanting. As the pistols leave his hands, they vanish.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman finds himself between the two monsters and his first swing has missed. He snaps the wings out trying to buffet them both. thise wings are pretty dangerous when he's being careful with them. In this case he uses them as weapons and chokes up on the mace to attempt butt strike the Ghost with it. The twirling thing works for jedi...

Remy LeBeau has posed:
    "Dis is ridiculous an' de smell." Remy notes as he peeks into he room, and lifts his hand to pinch at his nose.

    Yeah, this whole scene should cause a normal person to freak out and panic or flee or any number of reactions, but 'Tuesday's are weird.' shouldn't be a reaction.

    Seemingly the only one to react to the odors, Remy takes off his lanyard and with a soft purple glow around the fabric and plastic and metal bits, he tosses it up to explode in a faint pop, but with emphasis on the smoke, wafting perfectly into the sprinklers above. Expecting the foam or water, or whatever fire suppression system is installed to really distract the combatants and cure the offending scents.

Jon Kent has posed:
     Jon's arm is grazed, but he felt it...the feeling made it all too real. He couldn't hold back though, there wasn't time to stop and wonder what was going on.

  Another punch, to the chest again. It was a matter of life and...death? Hopefully not. But why take the chance?

Terry O'Neil has posed:
The smell isn't exactly something that would bother Terry right off. Anyone who has ever traveled via Raven's shadow self is familiar, nay, apathetic towards the smell of brimstone. But put him close to the entrance of a Yankee Candle store and you'll see how much a cat can complain, oh yes! The Innocent Bystander turned out to be a Make Objects Explode Bystander, but he seems to be on the side Not Of The Demon, so that means he's going to leave him be. For now.

Chaos magic flares up for a second in his hands, and then there is a glowing purple flamingo croquet club, pulsing with pure chaos. "I don't know wherre you get off harassing my friends, but back in Wonderland, we don't take lightly to that!"

He swings the club back, and then brings it back again in a powerful swing at the Gentleman's head. It is very much NOT the proper croquet form, but Vorpal is currently playing by the Harley Quinn International Rules, also known as the 'if anything is longer than it's wide, just grab it and swing it hard' school.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
As Ghost was faceplanting he barely avoids getting hit by the twice engaged Hawkman during the descent. The hat, actually gets knocked off by Terry, only for it to appear right back where it was. (CHEATER!)

Bringing a head up to his hat confirming its there, the ghost starts to turn himself around to get up. The time spent recovering the hat appears to be a problem as he ends up finding a musician's foot going heel first into the already cracked monocle. Shaking his head, he starts to bring his hand up only to get hit in the face AGAIN with the foot. "STOP!" This is NOT how the plan is supposed to go!

Nick's not stopping.

Otiosum backs away, mouth opening as he rapidly speaks again. 'Go no further is what I desire; To stop you I will bathe you with fire!' Bringing his hand up, he points towards Jon. A glow of the tip becomes apparent as Flame starts to form.

BRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!! KRSSHHH!

The flame fizzles as the sprinklers kick on. Otiosum's forming smile dies away as he ends up getting hit by Jon. Otiosum slides back a bit with the hit. Perhaps it is with the attention divided between opponents but Otio somehow manages to avoid getting hit by Hawkman. But he's not successful in getting one in himself. Instead, in the process of swinging at Hawkman, he ends up hooking a hand on Jon's hoodie instead, jerking it downwards.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman stops his pin wheel. "Hey! Creature! Leave that kid alone!" He attempts t leap onto the demon's back and lay the mace across his throat in a chokehold. You can't be too brutal to demons. They're demons!

Remy LeBeau has posed:
    Remy takes a pause and blinks heavily at the scene again and he blinks. "Uuuuh, you guys don't need help do ya?" The cajun asks, his eyebrow nearly touching above his nose as he's very unsure of the protocol here.

    This has not been covered in the danger room scenarios.

Jon Kent has posed:
Jon's hit connects, but it should have been much stronger than it was... "Oh dang." He comments, not a good one either.

  A clawed hand digs into Jon's hoodie, and RRRRRRIP. The garment is torn, into ribbons now, not just the hoodie, but there is some shirt missing, and the spread of blood on the plain white tee.

  The revelation of the actual damage causes Jon to pause, he never knew about this. And he hasn't felt physical pain since he was twelve...

  There he stood, chest bloody and his hoodie and shirt ripped up by Freddy Krueger...

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Missing the swing, Vorpal curses. He is about to try to whallop the Gentleman again when he notices that Superboy is in trouble.

Blood. Actual blood. Because Kryptonians and magic don't mix. He curses under his breath for letting that happen... the kid probably had never faced magic before.

"Superboy! Catch!" The croquet mallet turns into a bona fide Harley Quinn-sized circus mallet. A spark of magic and a whispered "Go to him!" and the magical construct zooms towards the young Kryptonian.

"Hit him where it hurts!"

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Hand caught in the hoodie, Otiosum rips his hand back, trying to turn around. Instead he ends up with a hawk on his back. With the material of the weapon, the expression on Otiosum's wet face contorts to a look of concern. The expression turns more into one of terror as the cat creature throws something else towards the boy that was punching him earlier. He grunts over at Gentleman Ghost. 'I do not wish to remain in this fight; The battle is done, it's time to take flight!' Otiosum blinks, glance drifting down to the mace. 'I DO NOT WISH TO REMAIN IN THIS FIGHT; THE BATTLE IS DONE, IT'S TIME TO TAKE FLIGHT!'

Bollocks.

"STOP YOU BRUTE!" Jim protests, shifting his head to the side as another foot swing comes down, smacking the floor instead. Whether he's referencing the triple teamed demon or the kicking musician is another matter. He shifts his head again to avoid another kick. "THIS IS NOT HOW THIS SHOULD BE!" Having had enough, the ghost sinks into the floor. To li- unlive to fight another day.

Joseph Gardner has posed:
Hawkman unclenches the hand under the mace head to draw it back for a lethal strike. It is a demon... Mistake. The Nth metal of the mce is no longer in contact with the monster. He rises up on his Nth metal belt and draws back and...

Otiosum is gone. DId a fast fade. Jetted. Poofed. Hawkman stops the mace in its arc before he bats Jon in the face, merely smashing the floor in rage.

"Come back and fight like a man you over blown cat freak!!!"

Jon Kent has posed:
     Hearing Vorpal call out to him got Jon out of his stupor, and back into the fight at hand.

  A reach out to catch the mallet and Superboy's blue eyes glint a little as he chokes up on the mallet, and swings for Otio's...between me down there area. "Batter up!"

  Aaaand it's gone. Jon's grip on the mallet loosens as he stops his swing, long enough to where he wouldn't hit Hawkman. "Well...that was...a thing." He puts a hand to his chest, and looks just a little saddened. "That was my favorite hoodie." It's also from 2030 but no one needs to know about that.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"... Hey!" Vorpal protests at Hawkman's epiteth. "Respect a little, Cheshire cat in the house and all..."

Now that the action has died down, he makes sure that Nick is okay. And then he goes and makes sure that Superboy is okay.

"... it looks like he got a few scratches in..." he mutters, glancing at the blood. And the torn hoody. He frowns a little.

"... you need a proper getup. I know this place that designs stuff for me. They can do whatever you want them to. If you hit me at the tower tomorrow, I can take you there..."

A glance back at Nick, and he raises an eyebrowm looking at Hawkman and Remy. And the chaos.

"You know. This isn't exactly how you do an after-concert party."